3 August 2017

Newsletter Articles

Key Dates

Tuesday 8 August – NWPSSA 5-6 Sports Day.
Tuesday 8 August – Don College Taster Information (Year 10).
Wednesday 9 August – Assembly. Years 7 – 10 (12.15 – 1pm).
Wednesday 9 August – Assembly. Prep – Year 6 (1.30-2.15pm).
Thursday 10 August - SRC Fundraiser - Primary Mohawks and Braids Day.
Tuesday 15 August - UNSW Maths Competition (Years 3 - 10).
Friday 18 August - Kinder/Prep Railton Excursion to Devonport.
Tuesday 22 August – The Magical World of Crazy Science. Prep – Year 4 (11.30am).
Tuesday 22 August – Wild Weather: The Crazy Scientist Strikes Back! Yr 5–10 (1.30pm).
Thursday 24 August - Book Week Assembly (11.30am).
Friday 25 August - Daffodil Day.
Friday 25 August – Health Careers Expo. Year 9.
Tuesday 29 August - Master Builders Association Presentation (2pm)
Thursday 31 August – Secondary Sports with Mountain Heights School.
Friday 1 September - SRC Fundraiser - Secondary Beanie Day.
Friday 1 September – Hagley Farm visit. Year 1-2.
Tuesday 5 September – Don College Taster Day. Year 10.
Wednesday 13 September – Assembly. Prep – Year 6 (1.30-2.15pm).
Friday 15 September - Assembly.  Whole school (including Railton).
Friday 15 September - SRC Fundraiser - Whole school - Crazy Hair Day
Tuesday 19 September – Trade Skills Day.
Thursday 21 September – Vaccinations Year 7 (Gardasil) / Years 10 – 12 (Meningococcal).
Friday 22 September – Snow Queen (Burnie High School Production).
Tuesday 26 September – Friday 29 September – Year 5 Camp (Roches Beach).
Friday 29 September – Last day of term.
Monday 2 October – Friday 13 October – School holidays.
Monday 16 October – Term 4 commences.

Principal’s Report

Staff and students have returned to school refreshed, ready for the term ahead. The start to the term has been very positive, albeit quite chilly, with students settling back into their learning programs really well.

Railton Campus Outdoor Learning/ Eating Area

During the term break the outdoor learning area at the Railton Campus was completed. This improvement both increases the aesthetic pleasure of this space as well as the providing a functional outdoor learning space that classes can utilise for their learning programs.

Over the remainder of the year we hope to make progress on some other improvements to our school environment / infrastructure, including adding to our playground equipment options for both Primary and Secondary students.

Reporting Survey

We are looking to improve the way we report student progress to our parent community. I would appreciate your feedback by completing this short survey to inform our review of this process.

New Education Act

Over the remainder of the year and into 2018 we will be providing regular updates and communications within our newsletter relating to the recent changes to the Education Act and the implications to our school community. In some cases the changes will mean we will need to review some of our policy and procedure documents. There may be occasions where feedback is sought from our school community on matters of policy, so please take up these opportunities when they occur. It is important that the views of our stakeholders are reflected in those documents that shape our actions.

Staffing

Recently Maree Brown and Brad Taylor were announced as the successful applicants for the Kitchen Aide and Railton Grounds/ Cleaning positions respectively. We would like to congratulate both Maree and Brad and look forward to the contributions they will make to our school going forward.

Student Achievement

Late last term I made mention of the success of a group of our students who had participated in the Illuminate Next Gen Business Challenge. Since then I have received a letter from the organiser Adam Mostogl which provides further recognition to these students for the manner in which they represented our school at this event. I have included a copy of this letter for your perusal, again congratulations to these students!

RON DALY
PRINCIPAL

Kids and Parents Cooking

Launching Into Learning (LiL)

Learning in Families Together (LiFT)

Family Maths

This week we will be sending out our latest family fun activity. Families will choose from a selection of Maths jobs that they can do together at home. You can draw, photograph or email your answers which will be displayed during Literacy and Numeracy week. The great news is, all K-2 (Sheffield) and K-4 (Railton) students who enter will win a great maths prize to take home! All instructions will be on the sheet we send home.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The 2017 Premier’s Reading Challenge is proudly affiliated with the Hawks Football Club and is running now through to 18 August.

WE HAVE A SOME WINNERS!

Well done to those that read 10 books by the beginning of Term 3. All of those students went into the draw to win a family ticket to watch the Hawks V North Melbourne at UTAS stadium on13 August.

Abbey Bryan from Railton was our lucky winner! Well done Abbey.

We were so impressed by our speed reading entrants that we decided to give away 8 books.

The book winners were Ava Fulcher, Brett Walters, Tahli Hyland, Joe Sullivan, Ryder Brown, Keasha Gaylor, Daniel Ireland and Johnathon Sherriff.

The Premiers Reading Challenge runs from 13 June to 18 August so keep reading.

Follow this link to find some great reading ideas for K-2 children.

For more information, head to:

Board Game Library

A reminder that board games are to be returned every Tuesday at Sheffield and Railton on Thursdays with all of their bits.

Snap a photo of your family using a board game and send it in for your chance to feature in the newsletter. Email photos to carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au

Secondary Students Survey

Cancer Council Tasmania (in collaboration with the Tasmanian Departments of Education and Health) is conducting a survey in our school. The survey is about behaviours some adolescents may do, and aims to find out how common these behaviours are. The sort of things the survey covers are: smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, use of legal and illegal drugs, sun-related behaviours, diet and physical activity. Students will also be asked about their attitudes towards using different substances and their experience of school. The Tasmanian Department of Education has approved the study, which is part of a national survey of secondary students. The results of the survey will be used to develop education programs aimed at tackling these problems among young people.

Our school has agreed to participate in the study. Members of the research team will be coming to the school to conduct the pen and paper survey in the next month. The survey is completely confidential and anonymous. Students are told NOT to write their names on the questionnaire. Students will return their completed questionnaires directly to the researchers.

Students from about 33 schools throughout Tasmania will be surveyed. The research team has randomly selected all schools involved with the study. There is no special reason for including our school in the study. Four classes from the school will be surveyed. There is no special reason for including any child in the sample.

I am writing to ask for your help by allowing your child to participate in the survey.

Any information provided in the survey is completely confidential and will only be used for research purposes. No school or student will be identified in the data set or in any reports published from the study.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the survey, please do not hesitate to call Mandy Gardener, at Cancer Council Tasmania, on 6169 1918 (Tasmanian state co-ordinator).

This project has been approved by Cancer Council Victoria’s Human Research Ethics Committee. Therefore, should you allow your child to participate, if you have any complaints or concerns about the manner in which this research is being conducted, please contact Ms Cathy Schapper, Executive Officer of the Human Research Ethics Committee, tel: (03) 9514 6318, email cathy.schapper@cancervic.org.au

In view of the importance of this project as part of the continuing effort to improve the health of our young people, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

SRC Report

Term Two was a busy term for the SRC, we hosted very successful socials for all three parts of the school – the ECE students were first, they all looked as if they had a blast dancing up a storm. The best part of the whole social was seeing Mrs Last dancing and singing to the Frozen song!

The Primary students were next and they also had a ball! The dance moves were excellent, as was the talent that we saw when the Limbo stick was lowered! Well done to all prize winners.

The Secondary social was a success, with a small number of very eager participants who danced the night away and took part in some awesome games. The socials raised a record amount of money for the SRC, much of which we will use to fund other activities that we run in the school throughout the remainder of the year.

At the end of the term we ran our “Couch Potato Day” the first of our fundraisers that we will use to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Foundation. This event was hugely successful and involved all of the SRC students from Years 3-10 running a variety of activities around the school. The Primary and Year 7-9 SRC students ran potato themed games for the primary students such as Spud Scotch, Chuck the Spud and Spud Relays. The Year 10 SRC baked and assembled 93 Jacket Potatoes for staff and High School students. The day raised over $800 for us to add to our total donation at the end of Term 3.

Term Three is also shaping up to be pretty busy as well, on 7 August we are heading to Railton to play some of the spud games with the students. Then we have a series of smaller fundraisers planned for the various sections of the school. ECE and Railton students will be given the opportunity to buy and assemble a ‘Grasshead’ man or lady, Primary students will be invited to pay to have a braid or a mohawk done in their hair for the day and Secondary students will have a Beanie Day. Dates and prices for each of these events will be advertised closer to the relevant dates. On 15 September a number of staff and some students will be having their heads shaved as the culmination of our fundraising efforts, all students across the school will have a Crazy Hair Day on this day. We have a fundraising goal of $2500. If we reach our goal, a very special guest will have his head shaved, more about who this might be will be revealed in the coming weeks!!!

Staff Professional Learning Day (Monday 24 July)

Staff engaged in professional learning to commence Term 3.

The focus for the day was connected to the ‘big picture’ planning for our school. Collaboration is highly valued within the school as an effective way for us to improve our practise as professionals

“If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve.”

Dylan Wiliam

The day started with the welcoming of new staff, revisiting medical procedures for all students and excursion requirements, followed by ICT information.

Our learning for the rest of the morning session was designed to improve our understanding of effective evidence-based practices for developing school culture and teaching, continue our work on Sheffield School’s Mission, Vision and Values and to reflect on how we can prioritise what is most important for student learning. We were working collectively to reflect on the question “How do we improve student learning?”

After lunch, teachers worked in Curriculum Teams to plan for student learning in HASS (History and Social Sciences), My Education and Specialist Curriculum such as Health and PE and Music.

Community Notices

Australian Defence Force Expo

23 August 2017, 6pm – Army Reserve Information Session. Kokoda Barracks. Devonport.

CMax Cinema Devonport – Scrrenagers

SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance. SCREENAGERS is the first feature documentary to explore the impact of screen technology on kids and to offer parents proven solutions that work.

Free Personal Tutorials

Music: Recorder and piano or both.
Literacy: Help with improving reading and comprehension
Experience: 15 years as a school volunteer
Conditions: My home or yours but an adult from your family must be present at all times – transport available.

Please call me on 0459 155 246 to arrange.
Martin Corke

Latrobe Basketball

Shimjang Taekwondo

Splash (Devonport Aquatic and Leisure Centre)

Student Exchange

LIVE ONLINE INFORMATION SESSION FOR STUDENTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE IN 2017

Student Exchange Australia New Zealand is a not-for-profit organisation that is registered with all state and territory Departments of Education around Australia and with the Ministry of Education in NZ. We are the first and only secondary exchange organisation in Australia and New Zealand to be certified to ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) and we ensure the highest standards of care and support to our participants.

Students and parents are welcome to register for the online session on Thursday 10 August at 5.30pm. (AEST). The session gives you information on becoming an exchange student and the various scholarship options that are available. You can find out more about our exchange programs to over 25 countries, listen to former exchange students share their experience and learn about our scholarships and discounts on offer.

Please note that the deadline for Scholarship and Early Bird Discount  applications for programs departing between April 2018 - September 2018 is 31 October 2017

We now offer 14 partial scholarships each year for semester and year applicants including the NEW Australian Ambassador Scholarships. See our website for more information.

"You come back a different person, with so much more confidence & you feel that you can conquer the world" Jessica, Semester Program to Italy