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Letter from the Secretary

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of the Secretary

GPO Box 169, HOBART TAS 7001

OfficeoftheSecretary@education.tas.gov.au

Ph (03) 6165 5757

29th June 2020

Dear parents and carers

Thank you for your support and assistance during what has been a truly extraordinary Term 2. What our schools have achieved in response to COVID-19 has been nothing short of amazing, and it would not have been possible without us working closely with families to ensure our students and staff are safe and supported to continue to learn.

Since our staged approach to returning to learning at school commence on 25th May, there have been a number of changes to the way schools have operated in order to comply with Public Health advice and to limit the movement of people on our sites an din our communities. Thank you all for your cooperation with these measures; our first consideration has always been the health and safety of our staff, students and the wider community.

Schools continue to remain safe, and all students should now be learning at school unless they have medical advice for a medical condition. It is also very important to keep your child at home if they are at all unwell.

From Term 3 (21st July 2020), updated health advice and changes to national and state restrictions will mean that schools will be able to re-commence a number of school activities. Some activities are continuing to be considered. Activities that can re-commence, with relevant hygiene and health and safety requirements in place, include:

*All school sports and activities, including competitions

*Inter=school student events and competitions (eg. sport, debating, public speaking, performing arts)

*School assemblies

*Some excursions

*Launching into Learning

*School swimming pools

*Work experience for students

*VET and work placements

*Parent/teacher meetings

*Approved volunteering activities

School camps and large gatherings of adults such as parent functions and working bees are still on hold until further notice.

We value the role parents and carers play in our schools and as a critical part of their child's education, and it is important that we maintain and continue strong relationships with families and schools. While all adults must maintain physical distance from each other at all times (1.5 metres), from Term 3 parents and carers will again be able to drop off and pick up students on school grounds. Please ensure that your time on school grounds and interactions are brief.

Fore more information about these changes and detail around what Term 3 will look like, the Department has launched a handy guide for parents and carers about what to expect. This can be found on the Department of Education website at: https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/

Thank you again for your support and cooperation during Term 2. All of the work our schools have undertaken, in conjunction with their school communities, has been truly inspiring, and we have both heard countless stories across our community from families who are so appreciative of how schools have responded to these uncertain times.

As always, our plans will remain in line with Public Health advice. We will continue to remain flexible and responsive to the situation, and will modify plans when we need to. It is wonderful to see our schools returning to their usual bustling hives of activity and learning, and we wish all our students and their families well for the remainder of 2020.

Yours sincerely

Tim Bullard Jeremy Rockliff MP

SECRETARY MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VOICE 2020

Congratulations to Year 7 student Shaelea for her success in last weekend’s Voice 2020, a youth public speaking competition run by UN Youth Tasmania.

Last weekend Shaelea competed online against students from across the state. The students were asked to address current global issues. Shaelea’s topic on the day was, “How can the Australian health system provide better care?”. Last night Shaelea received notification of her success in the preliminary round and was provided with valuable feedback to help her prepare for the grand final this weekend. Many of Shaelea’s fellow competitors were in Years 9 and 10, which make this achievement so much more exciting.

Well done, Shaelea and all the best for the grand final this weekend!

Regards,

Mrs Lindsey Blake

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Year 8 Sumo-Bot Battle

We have completed our unit on Robotics in Digital Technologies with 8.3. Although COVID-19 slowed our progress, we managed to build and program 9 robots that battled it out in the ring Week 8. There were a few upsets and quite a few surprise attacks! In the end, the results were as follows:

Sumo-Bot Champions: Marshall and Tahjan

Runner Up: Nahani

Innovative Design Award: Logan and Thomas

Honourable Mention (for Design): Lucas and Tanar, Charlotte and Zarli

It was excellent to see students expand on key design principles used by students in previous years. Well done to all involved for your supportive attitudes and commitment to learning.

Mrs Sarah Prior

Digital Technologies Teacher

BUSINESS AND FINANCE CLASS

Recently the Business & Finance class have been learning about Australia’s economy, in particular the sharemarket. Students had an opportunity to participate in the Australian Schools Sharemarket Game with great success. Kalon coming 2nd Place in Tasmania with Benjamin runner-up and Jaimee in 3rd place in our school ranking.

Regards,

Mrs Lindsey Blake
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

June 19 Newsletter

Click here to view the June 19 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Walk/Run Tour of Tassie Challenge

The current tally for staff and students at the end of week 4 for the Walk/run around Tassie is:

Week 4
Students – 601 km
Staff – 619 km

Well done to Jenny for the highest staff total this week - 74 km.

Well done to Maverick Thompson with another great effort for the highest student total this week – 69 km.

Overall Tally
Students – 1461 km
Staff – 1578 km

Well done to the staff who managed to achieve the 1500km target around Tassie, with the students not far behind. Well done to all involved.

Regards,

Miss Andrea Wilson

YEAR 8/9 LEADER

Communication for parents/carers – Minor excursions and aquatic activities

At the beginning of the year all parents/carers had the opportunity to give permission for their child to participate in minor excursions without the requirement to sign a permission form for every excursion. Minor excursions include visits on foot or by vehicular transport to places of educational value within the local community that last for less than one day. A similar consent process was used for aquatic activities.

With the changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic we are providing the opportunity for parents and carers to change their preference that was provided at the start of the year for both minor excursions and aquatic activities.

The school will ensure that relevant safety and health precautions will be implemented, including COVID-19 requirement, during the course of the excursion and aquatic activities. All other excursions including those with inherent risk will require you to sign a separate consent form prior to the excursion, as is currently the case.

If you wish to change your child’s current permissions or would like further information please contact the school by phone on 6452 9222 or email smithton.high@education.tas.gov.au. If we do not hear from you then the current permission arrangements will remain in place.

Regards,

Ms Nikki Clark
PRINCIPAL

For Year 11/12 students and families:

For Year 11/12 Students and Families:

INFORMATION ABOUT TCE EXTERNAL ASSESSMENTS

Assessments will still go ahead in 2020, with some adjustments, despite 2020 being an extraordinary year for students. Exams can be stressful at the best of times, so student wellbeing has been at the centre of these decisions.

Adjustments to assessments have been finalised, except for English 3, and Maths and Science courses, which will be available soon.

Head over to the TASC website for more information: https://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/students/courses/

As always, your teachers will have information about the assessments, so reach out if you have any questions.