At Kings Meadows High School we are in continuous conversations with our primary schools through our targeted transition program. Our transition program supports a smooth transition into Year 7 where students have a core team of teachers for English, Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS), Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education. 

Our Year 7 students remain in their class teacher group for their core and option lessons in Design Technologies, Drama, Food Technology, LOTE, Music and Visual Arts. The building that is home to Year 7 is separate from other year groups providing security and comfort while students are gradually exposed to the school environment. Class teachers are responsible for the welfare and pastoral care of students in their class teacher group.

In addition, students choose four enrichment courses that they study with Year 8 students. Studying enrichment courses with students from across Years 7 and 8 classes supports everyone to increase their circle of friendships, confidence, resilience and motivation to succeed.

Every year group has access to leadership opportunities.  A particular highlight is the opportunity to be a Transition Leader.  In this role Year 7 students act as mentors to Year 6 students, sharing information about High School and offering friendship and support as they transition from Primary School to Kings Meadows.  

The Department for Edudation, Children & Young People provides us with data describing academic achievement of our students.  In conjunction with our feeder primary schools we engage with a range of survey tools to gather answers about how students are feeling about school and their learning.  We gain valuable information that informs our carefully phased, year-long transition program that responds to the social and emotional needs of adolescents. We use our Department values of Connection, Courage, Growth, Respect and Responsibility to create a safe and supportive learning environment that responds to the needs of individuals in order to motivate and engage students to be the best version of themselves. 

We have a Peer Support program, designed to build successful relationships and leadership skills.  Peer Support Leaders work with the Year 7 team to support students to develop personal organisation, time management skills and a greater understanding of high school life.

Our teachers have high expectations for teaching and learning.  They understand they need to prepare students for an ever-changing world.  Our transition program provides collaboratively developed experiences for all our students.  We work closely with students and their families, Year 6 teachers, learning support teachers, social workers and psychologists to develop our transition program. 

Some of the ways we work to create a shared successful transition experience include:

• Challenge Day
• Open Evening Information Session
• In school observations
• Online community and digital platforms for increased communication of information
• Flexible programs
• Enrichment courses
• Learning support visits
• Social Work groups; and
• Orientation Day

We are delighted to let you know that in 2025 the Grade Leader for Year 7 will be Mr Stuart Withington. Stuart will be involved in meeting students at our 5/6 Challenge Day, as well as our Open Evening Information Session held in Term 2.

Hi, my name is Stuart Withington and I am the current Year 10 Grade Leader at Kings Meadows High School. This is my third year of being a Grade Leader at Kings Meadows High School and it is a role I thoroughly enjoy through building connections and relationships with students, staff and the community.

As year 7, Grade Leader in 2025, my vision is to continue to build a strong and supportive school culture for staff, students and parents through open communication, clear expectations and a focus on student growth and success. I teach English and HaSS, both subjects that I have taught over the last 25 years, although I also have many years experience teaching HPE and in a primary school setting.

In 2025, I look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 cohort to Kings Meadows and helping all students make a positive transition to high school.

Times of the school day

Kings Meadows High School Website

Kings Meadows High School (education.tas.edu.au)

Learning Support Updates   

Our Learning Support Team at Kings Meadows High have been busy collaborating with Learning Support teachers from primary schools to create well prepared and inclusive learning environments for students who are coming to Kings Meadows High School next year.  

These discussions help ensure that all learning plans from primary school are up to date and that our staff understand the learning needs of each student before they come to us.  We now have copies of all updated learning plans and these have been used to support the class placement process and the co-ordination of Teacher Assistant resourcing for Year 7 classes in 2025.  

Having our Learning Support Team promote discussions with primary schools in support of students with a disability is part of our commitment to work on the value of connection through building positive relationships and a sense of belonging within our school community.  

At the beginning of 2025 all teachers at Kings Meadows High School who teach a student with a learning plan are expected to read the learning plans of any students they teach and adjust their planning as needed to allow students access to the curriculum through differentiation of tasks and learning environment.  Further to this, in the first few weeks of high school, your child’s class teacher should make contact to start building strong partnerships between home and school.  Towards the end of Term 1, our staff will look more closely at each learning plan,making minor suggestions or adjustments based on their new understandings while further personalising goals and adjustments to our high school setting in collaboration with parents. 

We hope our work in learning support helps to build confidence in the processes that we use here at Kings Meadows High School to support students with a disability and supports any questions you might have in this area as parents. 

If you would like to talk further with a member of our Learning Support Team prior to next, year please feel free to phone the school and ask to talk with Mrs Kate Hume or Mr Nathan Karas, who will be able to assist you further. 

Continually Connecting with Primary Schools

This year at Kings Meadows High School we have continued to build on and refine the work we do to better support parents and students to feel welcome and connected.  With this goal in mind, we have consciously made attempts to support our primary schools and their initiatives through establishing new connections and opportunities to partner and work together by supporting their events and teaching and learning programs.  So far this year we have already assisted at various carnivals with our student leaders encouraging participation, enjoyment and safety on the day, We have also continued to support athlete development and extension into LSSSA Cross Country running by providing primary school students with an opportunity to practice at Kings Meadows High School with students in Year 6 running with our Year 7s during our Cross Country Carnival. We have also supported Netball Championships, Friday sport options and also through leadership opportunities. As this year progresses, we would like to open up opportunities to expand our connections into the various learning areas with new initiatives being provided in Music, Art, Drama and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) groups through collaborative learning.  We hope these initiatives help our primary schools, while also providing them with opportunities and initiatives that would not be possible without our support.  We hope you enjoy the photos of some if these initiatives in motion.  Thank you to Mr Poke who has been the driving force in establishing and supporting new outreach opportunities between primary schools and high schools.

In School Tours

On Monday 8 April, during the last week of Term 1 we conducted our first school tour for parents and students interested in attending Kings Meadows High school next year. With close to 100 people registered to attend we had a great turn out. The tour was hugely successful but wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of staff who volunteered their time on the night to support walking in small groups with parents and students to various areas around our school.  Kings Meadows High certainly has a high number of teaching and leadership staff willing to promote and support the work we do on a daily basis, and this was evident in the positive feedback we received by parents on the night.

This term we have continued to support parents in better understanding the running of Kings Meadows High school by offering ‘in school’ tours during the school day so that parents can see our school in operation.  Parents booked these sessions electronically and once again leadership staff from around our school helped to run these tours by volunteering their time to conduct a personalised tour for families and their children.  This is a new initiative for us this year and we have taken onboard feedback from parents and work from other school in making sure we are providing the best possible opportunities to build partnerships between home and school and successful working relationships with future parents and students.  Feedback from parents has highlighted their positive impressions of our learning programs and the calm and organised way our students participated and engaged with their learning programs throughout the school.  If you missed out on booking a tour, please contact our school office on 6343 1000 and a member of our transition team will connect with you to organise a personalised tour at a time that suits. 

2024 Transition Leaders

This year we had 41 applications from students in Year 7 who wanted to apply to become a Transition Leader.  This is an absolute credit to this year’s cohort and to the work conducted from our previous Transition Leaders who worked hard to build and support relationships with students in connected primary schools. This year our successful Transition Leaders have already risen to the challenge and have conducted school tours to local primary schools to promote Kings Meadows High School, with the goal of helping students feel less anxious about transitioning from primary school to high school.  Thank you to Mr Poke and Mr Karas who supported with the transport and co-ordination of students between the different schools. 

At Kings Meadows High School we aim to encourage student voice and student agency as part of further developing positive relationships and to help them feel more connected as part of our whole school community. Students who feel they have a voice are more likely to attend classes. Empowering students to share their views and influence decisions that affect them has the following benefits:

• leads to improved wellbeing          
• drives student engagement          
• creates positive change          
• promotes civic engagement       

​​​​​​​The work we do on student voice and agency at Kings Meadows High School is aligned with several significant frameworks focused on empowerment, agency, participation and engagement of children and young people: 

One of the tasks after our Transition Leaders returned to KMHS was to write an article for our Transition Newsletter to be shared with new parents.  As such, I hope you enjoy the articles written by Elaina, Adele, Samu, Chloe, Zaylia and Sienna.  This work also aligns with our school improvement plan in enhancing the literacy achievements of our students.

Transition Leader Report  - By Elaina Hendriksen

Why is being a Transition Leader so important?
I believe that a Transition Leader is really important because it can help the Grade 6s transition to high school. We can make them feel heaps more comfortable, they get to know the school better, and they can know what to expect at Kings Meadows. 

What do Transition Leaders do to help?
Transition Leaders help by getting the Grade 6s ready for high school. We teach them how our days work, when to wear which uniform, our school rules and what sort of learning we do. We are extra helpful when it comes to going to the schools because we know what it was like for them, and we are only a little older than them so we’re not so scary. 

What did we do when we were at the primary schools?
When we went to help out at the primary schools we went through everything we do here at Kings Meadows. We explained how our days are structured, what our different carnivals are, and any other information they might need like about the canteen and S.W.A.T. (Success, Wellbeing, Aspiration, Teamwork) days. We gave them any useful tips and showed them all our different courses and what our experiences are like here. 

What is the point of a Transition Leader?
I think that the point of a Transition Leader is that we have the newest experiences of high school. We were also just like them not to long ago. The difference between us talking and leading the Grade 6s to the teachers doing it is that we have had the same experience as them only a year ago, we aren’t as scary because they may know some of us and we are also helping ourselves in being more courageous in talking in front of a group of people. 

Year 7 Transition Leader Recount – Adele Boyer
When we went to Perth, Youngtown and Longford Primary schools, we showed the students how it was like to be at King's Meadows High and all of the opportunities that you can get here, using our power point to guide them through all of the wonderful opportunities we have here at KMHS.

We were trying to help and encourage Year 6s transition from primary school to high school. I told them have still got the same core subjects such as Maths, English, HaSS and Science. But her we also have what else could be useful in the future such as Cooking, MDT, Art and LOTE (Languages Other Than English).

I described English of how you could learn how we could learn vocabulary skills for the everyday socialising with other people and all of the other skill that come with English at king's meadows.

I also mentioned LOTE. I am currently not doing LOTE because I have it next term. But I talked about how important LOTE is because you get to learn the language and the cultural benefits, just in case you would like to travel or work in tourism.

I also talked about the sport houses and what they are and how they work and how you will be put into one at the start of Year 7. And if you have a family member that went to Kings then you would most likely be put in the same on as them.

I think I benefited a lot from that such as I got better with my speaking, not just to people but in a large crowd as well and I got to help people start to transition and understand how high school works.

Transition Leader Recount - Samu Thapa
A few weeks ago, I went to Norwood Primary School along with a few more students and helped Grade 6s learn about Kings Meadows High School.

We talk about different thing that were provided at Kings Meadows and what next year for them would kind of look like. This visit was also to answer questions that the 6s had and make them overcome their fears, concerns or worries about next year.

We did this because many people are not used to being in a new place with new people and many other new things. These can cause people to be overwhelmed and have worries and we were there to help them loosen their worries.

Some of the questions were “What’s in the lunch orders?”, “What do you make in cooking?”, “Is high school fun?”.

I loved going to Norwood as I went there last year and I loved seeing the Grade 6s being happy of what was there for them next year and what it would look like.

It was fun meeting my friend from last year and I am very grateful for the opportunity to go. I was also very inspired from last year when the other Transition Leaders came to do the same thing, so it be able to do that then was great. Although I was nervous, I’m glad that I was able to overcome my fear of public speaking from this leadership. I was very happy to meet the staff and some teachers because they were lovely. 

Transition Leader Recount – Chloe Styles
A couple of weeks ago, I and a few other transition leaders, visited Glen Dhu Primary School to help the Grade 6 students learn about Kings Meadows High School.

We first talked about required full-year subjects (English, Maths, HaSS, etc.), half-year subjects (Drama, Music, etc.) and enrichments (Art, Winter Sport, Photography, etc.). After that we talked about sport carnivals and opportunities such as Interhigh. At the end, the Grade 6 students were allowed to ask questions that we would answer.

Some of the questions we were answer were: ‘What’s Interhigh?’, ‘How do you make lunch orders?’ and ‘What are some of the things you make in cooking?’

This visit was made to help them overcome any fears or worries they had about moving from Grade 6 to Year 7, as it’s not any ordinary grade switch, it’s moving schools and being around people you don’t know. This can be very stressful for some while others might be more comfortable. We were also allowed to briefly talk about our own fears and concerns about high school that ended up not being that bad.

I loved going to Glen Dhu. The staff were lovely and students that we talked to were very nice and respectful. It was a great experience that made me feel more confident speaking in front of a larger audience. I’m very grateful for that experience and I am sure that the transition leaders next year will be absolutely amazing! I’m looking forward to seeing all the year 6s on Challenge Day and Orientation Day. 

Year 7 Transition Recount - Zaylia Blake
When we went to Perth, Longford and Youngtown Primary Schools we had to discuss to all the Grade 6s how our transition to Year 7 worked. Some other things we talked about were the core subjects (English, Maths, Science, HaSS and HPE), enrichment courses, compulsory half year courses (LOTE, MDT, Cooking and Art), timetables, iPads, uniform and our R.O.C.K.S. expectations.

R is for respect

O is for organisation

C is for commitment to learning

K is for keeping safe

S is for sensible behaviour

I think that the Grade 5/6s found the information we gave them helpful and I also think they understood the information quit well. I hope that we set a good reputation for KMHS and that they went home and told their families how good KMHS is. I also think that talking to Grade 5/6s about the school is really important.

Personally, going to all the schools really helped me in getting a deeper understanding of why talking about transition is so important to all students. I also found that going around schools built my confidence in public speaking. 

Glen Dhu Recount - Sienna Farrington 
At Glen Dhu, we shared a Power Point presentation where we talked to the Year 6s about information they would need to know about coming to KMHS. I talked about how Maths in Year 7 isn’t very different to Grade 6 Maths, we do all the basic maths such as, fractions, decimals and prime and composite numbers. While talking about Drama, I explained how it can benefit learning how to speak in front of an audience. I told the audience that LOTE (Spanish) can be helpful in the future if they pursue a travelling career that they will understand and communicate with others with ease.

I described what S.W.A.T. days would be like to them. They are a day where you do not follow your usual timetable and your class teacher usually sets up some activities for the class. The last S.W.A.T. day we had was all about positive relationships and we talked about what a positive, abusive and unhealthy relationship looks, sounds and feels like. This is important to learn about because in the future if we have a negative relationship, we need to know how to recognise it.

Then there was a bit of time for the  6s to ask questions if we haven’t already covered it. Some questions they asked were answered by students and others were answered by either Mr Karas or Mr Poke.

The students seemed interested in what we were presenting. After the visit I felt proud of myself for having the courage to share.

Challenge Day 21 June 2024
This year for the first time Challenge Day will be held over just one day providing a great opportunity for all schools to come together at Kings Meadows High School to provide primary students with a ‘Taster Day’ at KMHS. The day is designed around a number of curriculum-based challenges, HaSS, Maths, English, Science, Health & Physical Education, Arts & Technologies. Participating students will experience a fun and engaging day with planned lesson activities, view our facilities and meet our staff while in the care of their Primary School teacher and TA’s. 

The purpose of Challenge Day is to: 

• increase students engagement with pathway options beyond Primary School; 
• increase students connectedness to learning. 

We support students to increase their engagement, connectedness and academic outcomes by creating opportunities for students to interact with their peers and teachers in a range of activities that involve:  

• developing new friendships; 
• improving students’ self-esteem; and 
• confidence.  

 Experiencing social success will: 

• assist students in the transition to Year 7; 
• support students to understand the routines and school organisation. 

For organisational purposes, the day will be structured as follows: 

• Arrival: From 9:20am – Busses to enter main gate and use turning circle. Students will move to the Gym.
• Assembly Introduction: 9:40am
• Recess: 10:10-10:25am
• Sesson 1: 10:25-11:25am
• Session 2: 11:25-12:25pm
• Lunch: 12:25-12:55pm (Students MUST bring a packed lunch – we cannot provide our canteen on this day)
• Session 3: 12:55-1:55pm
• Assembly: 1:55-2:10pm
• Departure: 2:10pm – Students will move from the gym back to the turning circle to embark busses. 

Open Night and Year 7 Parent Information Session
Once again, we look forward to holding our Open Night and Year 7 Parent Information Session.  This event will be held on Tuesday 2 July 2024.  This night is an opportunity for potential new parents and students to attend our school after hours and to see the inner workings of our KMHS with a focus on curriculum, reporting to parents and teaching and learning programs.  A free BBQ will be available on the night as well as a variety of arts sharing including musical from performances from students.  Last year we had over 150 parents registered to attend so please keep a look out for upcoming communication and remember to RSVP and attend on the night.  We look forward to seeing you there !