Filter Content
- Principals Report
- Every School Day Matters
- School Improvement Plan 2023
- Device Loaning Program
- Feeder School Arrangements
- Student Leadership Group - Up Coming Events
- Term 3 in Year 10
- Up Close and Big - Forensic Pathology
- Term 3 in Year 9
- JCP Youth Development Camp
- Term 3 in Year 8
- Year 8 Japanese
- Year 7 Science - How Forces Work
- Cultural Hub Happenings
- Pop Up Pantry - Donations Needed
- Winter Wellness 2023
- COVID-19 Rules and Regulations
- Schoolzine - Installing SZAPP
- Know the facts about Vaping.
- eSafety's Parent and Carer Webinar Schedule
- New Online Information HUB for Families
- West Northwest Working - Paths to employment
- The Smith Family Saver Plus Program
- The Show & Agri-Expo Cottage Craft and Cooking Entry Forms
- HIVE - Space Awareness in Tasmania
- Life Without Barriers - Become a Foster Carer
- Fairbrother 2024 Apprenticeship Applications
A huge welcome to Term 3. It is great to be back on deck following ten weeks of leave. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking around the school and catching up with both students and staff. Thanks to Sam Wells for stepping in as Acting Principal in my absence, supported by Bianca Munday, Maree McCall and Emily Devlin.
I hope students and families enjoyed the break and had an opportunity to spend time together and re-energise for what we know will be a busy term. The start of the term has been one of mixed emotions as we process the loss of one of our students. We have had and will continue to have additional support staff available to support our students during this time. In our correspondence to parents and carers last week, we encourage parents and carers to contact the school if they feel their child would benefit from accessing professional support.
Staffing
This week we have farewelled two staff members as they step into the next journey of their careers. Hayley Wolstenholme, who has been our ‘Introduction to Nursing’ VET teacher, will be commencing at Utas as a lecturer in the Bachelor of Nursing. We also have Micah Jewell leaving after three years as a highly-valued teacher assistant. Micah has taken a position at the Indi school. We wish both Hayley and Micah all the very best.
We also welcome back Mr Gordon Brown from leave along with Lachlan Bryan and Michelle Bennett who have joined our teaching team. Mrs Ange Hancock will be moving into the ‘Introduction to Nursing’ position with Mrs Leeanne Mason increasing her teaching load to take on the Year 7 Maths classes of Mrs Hancock’s.
Communications
Partnerships between school and home is a critical component in a young person’s education and development. We encourage parents and carers to contact their child’s teacher or Grade Coordinator if they have any concerns or questions regarding their child’s learning. Also, to support student engagement we ask parents to contact the school office in relation to student absences and support.
Looking forward to an exciting and productive Term 3.
Magella Dudley
Principal
Are you making every school day count?
It’s Term 3 already – welcome back for another term!
As we move through the school year, sometimes regular school attendance can be challenging.
It’s important your child keeps up good attendance habits though.
Going to school every day means your child has every chance to learn, and be around their friends and teachers. Every day adds up, to benefit your child now and in the future.
If you’re having trouble getting your child to school, please talk to us. We’ll listen to your situation, and help in any way we can.
If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.
Each year, we develop a School Improvement Plan (SIP) based on identified areas for growth within the school. Throughout the school year, staff and students engage in activities to monitor the progress of the SIP to ensure that we are taking the right steps towards reaching our agreed Targets and Priorities.
Recently, our Student Leadership Group and our Year 7 and 8 Class Captains participated in a School Improvement Plan monitoring activity – where they were able to share their observations of how they believe our school is progressing towards whole school improvement priorities.
During the activity, students reviewed student Actions for each of the Priorities documented on our School Improvement Plan using a rating scale, paired with written evidence of their ratings observations. Our student leaders identified Priority 2 – Wellbeing for Learning, as an area we are progressing most in, and they expressed their excitement to see further gains in our other priorities when they review the plan again in Term 3.
The inciteful information students provide during these monitoring activities, play an integral role in ensuring we are on a continuous cycle of improvement, and we aren’t wavering from our plan. We would like to acknowledge and thank our student leaders for taking the time to provide their voice on behalf of the entire student body.
Priority 1 Engaged and confident learners, who transfer and apply literacy skills across all learning areas.
Priority 2 A culture of wellbeing that supports all students to access, participate, and engage in their learning.
Priority 3 The school Instructional Model is visible and intentional in our teaching practice and classrooms – with clear links between Curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy.
Mrs Bianca Munday
Assistant Principal
Students in years 7-12 can now borrow a device or internet hotspot to take home for short periods of time. Students can request to borrow a device or internet hotspot from the library to work on an assignment, research a topic of interest or complete an application online. If you do not want your child to be able to loan a device or internet hotspot please contact the school office on 6464 0600 or parklands.high@decyp.tas.gov.au
Have your say on current feeder school arrangements
The Department for Education Children and Young People is seeking feedback from families on current feeder school arrangements. These arrangements have been in place for many years and are currently under review. The current feeder school arrangements have been published and can be found on the Department’s Find Your Local High School webpage. Feedback on these current arrangements can be provided via on online survey at https://forms.office.com/r/q6SrdMne2i . Your feedback will be a valuable input into the review process.
Student Leadership Group - Up Coming Events
Welcome to Term 3, a term with some exciting things planned.
Term 2 was a very busy term for the Student Leadership. We purchased 2 new BBQ’s for the school with the money raised earlier in the year. Student Leaders have also been assisting with breakfast club each morning, serving toast and Milo to students.
The Parklands High School MND day was held on the 23rd of June, where students were encouraged to wear their blue and white attire as well as their MND beanies and socks. Although the days forecast wasn’t ideal, we were still able to raise $538.40 for the day and the beanies and socks for about $1572. At recess the blue lemonade spiders were very popular with all of them being sold within minutes and at lunch we had another very successful barbeque. Due to unfortunate weather, the sponge throw and teacher ice bucket challenge was postponed and held in the first week of this term. Thank you to all those who participated and to everyone who donated to such a worthwhile cause.
The last week of Term 2 saw us celebrate NAIDOC week. On Monday 3rd the student leadership group attended the flag raising ceremony at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. At the ceremony they announced the Tasmanian Aboriginal of the Year and raised the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag. All in all, it was a beautiful ceremony which we were lucky to attend. On Tuesday 4th we held our end of term assembly in which the theme was NAIDOC week. At the assembly we invited First Nations people from the community to come along and watch. At the assembly we had a couple of speeches from Mr Wells, Guy Grey and our students who work and spend time in our Cultural Hub. We also had some educational videos around NAIDOC week. These videos and speeches helped students understand the meaning and context behind NAIDOC week and why it is so important. On Wednesday 5th we had a small group of students go to a smoking ceremony in Penguin with Guy Grey. On Friday 7th our last day of term, we had a free dress day- red, black and yellow, to once again celebrate NAIDOC week. On this day there was no donation needed to dress up. It was a lovely day, to see Parklands students embrace and celebrate the oldest living culture in the world.
We have a few events planned for Term 3:
- Week 4 – Bullying No Way! Awareness day
- Week 5 – Assembly
- Week 8 – RU OK Awareness Day
- Week 10 – Assembly
- Week 10 - Footy Colours Day
Student Leadership Group
It’s been great to see Year 10 students back this term. I would also like to welcome Michelle Bennett onto the Year 10 team, teaching history to two classes. The holiday break has also seen the kitchenette in Year 10 complete, with a sink, refrigerator, microwave and sandwich toaster available for students to make use of.
The first round of orders for Year 10 polo shirts arrived in Week 1 and it has been fantastic to see students wearing these proudly. If your young person missed the first round of orders or just wants a second or third shirt, a second round of orders in open and will cut off mid-August. The ordering process is the same as last term. If you need help with the process please contact the school.
Hellyer College staff will be visiting Parklands High during Week 9 of this term for student enrolment meetings. These meetings are conducted in a triad style, with a member of college staff, student and parent to discuss students plans for Year 11 and make subject selections for 2024. In preparation for these meetings students will be updating their transition plans that will be used to inform this process. There will also be an information evening at Hellyer College on August 16 that students and their parents are welcome to attend.
With the end of the year approaching quickly, dates have been set for the key end of year events. Our awards assembly will be on Monday 18 December, the Year 10 Assembly and Celebration dinner will be on Tuesday, 19 December. I would like to encourage Year 10 students to make the most of the opportunities on offer over the next two terms and finish off the year successfully.
Mr Crawford
Year 10 Coordinator
Up Close and Big - Forensic Pathology
On Thursday 27th selected students attended an Up Close and BIG with Professor Roger Byard. Roger is a forensic pathologist and the Professor of Pathology at The University of Adelaide. In the session he talked about some of the cases he has worked on. These cases included the Snowtown serial killings, the Bali Bombings of 2002, and the SE Asian Tsunami in 2006. He also talked about how he investigates historic bushranger cases such as ones as Ned Kelly and Captain Moonlight. Roger’s experiences were really helpful to us who want to study forensic pathology, he taught us that there is so much more to forensic pathology than autopsies. Forensic pathology is so broad, and you are presented with many opportunities. He taught us that the most important thing in forensic pathology is curiosity and compassion, it’s all about helping people. Overall, it was a wonderful learning experience for everyone, and we were very lucky to have talked with Roger.
Keshana Opatha
Year 9
Welcome back to school Year 9’s.
In grade 9 this term we are focusing on the importance of attending school every day. Attending school is important for your progression in class, your future options, your wellbeing and your social contacts. ‘Everyday matters’ is the slogan you may have seen on tv advertisements and in Year 9 we are being guided by this phrase and attempting to improve our statistics. As a Year we have a goal of improving our attendance to 85%, with potential surprise incentives if we manage to reach our goal. You can do this Year 9!
Mrs Hancock
Year 9
The JCP Youth Development Camp Level 1 was awesome. We had four days of amazing activities that challenged us and pushed us to do incredible things.
On Day 1, we started at MFX strength and conditioning in Deloraine and then did two runs up Snob Hill. Our first night’s accommodation was sleeping on stretchers in the Meander Valley Hall.
On Day 2, we started our day at 4:30am and did a 3.5hr mountain climb at Quamby Bluff. The entire climb was done by torch light and multiple people lost their headtorches and fell over and hurt themselves making the climb challenging in the wet and dark conditions.
When we got to the top of our climb the view was lost in the clouds due to the weather.
After this we drove to the Hobart Aquatic Centre and challenged ourselves to jump off the 10m diving platform. This was extremely difficult to overcome the nerves for. After I went off the 7.5m platform I realised that maybe the 10m wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. Once you do one hard thing, it makes the next hard thing easier.
A lot of fun for the last couple of days was had at Redbanks the Ultimate Experience where we were challenged with a lot of activities including a massive waterslide that ended in a mud pond, and we played a 3-team game called Daytime Commander on the paintball field which is a combination of staying hidden while getting through the paintball course and capturing flags along the way. To avoid being spotted I jumped into a pond but unfortunately my splash was too loud, and I was caught out in that round.
I really appreciate the JCP team and volunteers for giving me the opportunity to participate in this camp and I am hoping to get the opportunity to go to the Level 2 camp in the future. JCP Youth camps helps you build resilience and confidence.
Otis Hansen
Year 9
For the past 2 weeks, grade 8 students have been working hard in classes. We have been doing fitness testing in pe, this includes the beep test, 20m sprint, agility run, plank, basketball throw, vertical jump and tennis throw. Some grade 8’s and some grade 7’s went to Marist to represent parklands in footy, we had a good game winning against Yolla, but sadly lost against Marist. On the 1st of September we have our winter sports day. Towards the end of last term, we got to pick some sports that we would like to do. Some of these sports were, sports for girls, camp clayton, sip and paint, swimming, basketball, Lazer tag, bowling, bike riding, etc. During pc we have been learning how to write a resume because we are coming of age to get part time jobs. Also, during pc, the classes voted on new class captains, in 8A the class captains are, Ashlee Collins and Mataya Dunham. In 8B Isabelle Scott and Krystal Elphinstone. In 8C Temperence McDonald and Dainton Murach. In 8D Shanae Blair and Rhune Nichols. Congratulations to these students on being term 3/4’s class captains.
Ashlee Collins and Mataya Dunham
Year 8
“The Year 8 Japanese class enjoyed designing, making and eating their ‘Kyaraben’ – Bento which looks like a cute character.
Students had a great time collaborating and tasting the fruits of their labour.
Kaleb: "It looks easy, but it’s actually quite difficult! The hardest part was turning the sticky rice to onigiri (rice balls)"
Isabelle: "It was very fun, and we all learnt the diverse ways that they make kyaraben in Japan"
Travis: "It was yummy, even though making onigiri was hard."
Year 7 Science - How Forces Work
This week in Science in grade 7, students are investigating balanced and unbalanced forces by creating a ‘marble run’.
As part of an ALP (Alternate Learning Programme) and of being first nations or Aboriginal heritage ,throughout this year I have been working with Mr Grey (Chalky) in the Cultural Hub with some hands on activities and learning more about my culture. One of the activities was making a pair of ceremonial clapsticks. These clapsticks are usually made from a native tree or wood such as gum, tea tree or dogwood. My set was made from dogwood which is the hardest to actually work with because it is very hard. The stripping of the bark is done first using hands, a wood rasp and a wire brush.Once the bark is removed and the wood dries out naturally, we used 3 sorts of sand paper to give them a smooth finish.P80 sandpaper as the coursest is first used followed by P150 and then the finest, P320.Once the sticks are super smooth we then coat them with an oil to protect them and also give a shiny finish. The conversations about culture while we work are informative and I am enjoying this work in the cultural hub.
Marcus Lowery
Year 11
Winter wellness
The cooler months bring colds, the flu, COVID-19 and other illnesses.
Being prepared is the best way to protect yourself and your family.
Prepare
Children are most likely to catch and spread the flu. Make sure your child has received their annual flu vaccine. This will boost their immunity against most likely circulating flu strains. It will also help stop them getting very sick.
Plan
If your child is at higher risk of becoming very sick from the flu, COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses, make a plan with your healthcare provider for when your child becomes sick.
Protect
Protect others by keeping your child home if they’re unwell, encouraging regular hand washing, and covering coughs and sneezes.
For more information, read the [enclosed/attached] parent and carer factsheet or visit the Department of Health website.
Thanks for doing your part to keep our school community safe, healthy and learning.
COVID-19 Rules and Regulations
COVID RULES AND REQUIREMENTS
A reminder of Public Health close contact requirments and rules of people who test positive for COVID-19. Covid positive cases and close contacts of COVID-19 cases are no longer required to isolcate. However, Public Health continue to recommend COVID positive cases and close contacts do the following:
- Stay home if unwell,
- Wear a mask indoors,
- Avoid high risk settings,
- Avoid large gatherings and indoor crowded spaces,
- Avoid people at risk of severe illness,
- Inform Public Health of their positive result
Requirments for children and young people or other visitors who are close contacts or test positive to COVID-19.
- They should stay home and test if they have, or develop, any symptoms.
- In schools, its is reccomended that children and young people (or their parents or carers) inform their school that they are a COVID positive case so the school can monitor the number of cases within the classroom.
- In other sites, its is recommended that visitors consider resheduling and inform their contact prior to their visit/appointment.
- Students who are close contacts or test positive to COVID-19, may attend school (except Support schools) if: they are well and asytomatic, or they have recovered and their acute symptoms or symptoms have been resolved.
- Children and vistors who have tested positive to COVID or are a close contact should wear a face mask in all indoor settings for 7 days.
- It is recommendeed that secondry students wear masks while primary students are encouraged and supported to.
- Students can ask for a mask at school.
- Students or visitors who are also contacts or test positive to COVID-19, must not attend Support Schools for 7 days from their positive test.
If you have further questions please call the school office on 64 64 0600.
Vapes can contain harmful chemicals that are found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer or even bug spray.
To learn more about vaping, visit https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/about-us/projects/child-student-wellbeing/vaping/
New Online Information HUB for Families
Some exciting news! The Department for Education, Children and Young People has recently launched a new online information hub for families with school-aged children in Tasmania. Our new website has information to help you navigate your child's education, from birth all the way up to 18 years of age.
Visit our new webpage at Welcome to your child's Tasmanian education - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au) (https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/information-for-families-and-students)
Some of the things you’ll find include
- tips on how to support your child’s learning at home
- information to help you keep your child safe and well
- a guide to explore courses for the career they want
- school holiday and term dates.
We hope this website will be a valuable tool for you as you help your child navigate their education journey. We would love to know what you think of our new information hub for families. You can tell us by completing a quick survey on the webpage.
West Northwest Working - Paths to employment
- Are you looking to re-enter the workforce after time away?
- Do you want to upskill or reskill to pursue your next career opportunity?
- Are you currently working but want to work more hours?
- Need help to uncover your transferrable skills?
- Want to become more confident and career ready?
There are many different paths leading to employment but finding your way can be tricky.
Alyssia at West North West Working can help you.
Alyssia can support you with preparing your resume, finding training opportunities and searching for work.
Our service is FREE and it’s voluntary to engage with us.
Contact info@wnwworking.com.au or Alyssia on 0490 865 337
Alyssia is also at the Burnie Library every Monday between 11:30am and 2pm if you would like to call in.