Welcome back to all students and families to our last term of 2019. The year has passed quickly as we head into a very important term. Students will be finalising their assessment of learning for the year, making decisions in relation to their transition into 2020 and celebrating what has been a very positive and successful year.

Our year 10 students have been sitting exams across their core subjects over the past fortnight. Whilst this can be a stressful experience for some of our students it is a key component of their preparation for life after Queechy. Whilst not all students will study subjects that require exams at College, all students benefit from having strong study skills and the ability to review their own learning and complete assessment tasks under pressure. I have been impressed with the way a large number of our Year 10 students have risen to the challenge posed by the exams and exceeded expectations, well done!  Thank you to all our staff who have contributed to the process through either writing and marking the exams or supervising students to ensure they can put their best foot forward.

Our Year 10 students also attended the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness program at Symmons Plains Raceway last week. This day is an opportunity for our young drivers, or soon to be drivers, to explore aspects of road safety, risk taking, car control and decision making. The day is supported by a large number of organisations from across Tasmania and is an invaluable insight into the world of driving that our students need to experience. Thank you to all the organisations involved and for our students who represented Queechy brilliantly on the day.

All our year 8 students travelled to Hobart to participate in a fantastic learning opportunity at Parliament House. The excursion was a culmination of their work in Civics and Citizenship and saw our students sitting in the Chambers normally reserved for our Parliamentarians. The groups put forward a bill in the lower house and then worked through the approval process including a review by the
“Queechy Legislative Council”. A great hands on way to learn about the function of government and the processes we use in Tasmania to pass laws and represent the population. Well done to all staff connected to this visit with particular thanks to
Ann-Marie McKendrick for organising the opportunity!

Congratulations to Ginger and Kenneth from year 7 for being the Queechy recipients of the inaugural DoE “Aspiration and Achievement Awards” on Wednesday evening. These students have performed exceedingly well through their NAPLAN assessment and Australian Curriculum subjects and have been rewarded for either significant personal gain or outstanding overall performance. Well done to both of you!

Our 2019 SLB group have been working diligently throughout the year to ensure Queechy continues to provide a fun and exciting environment, but also improve on the previous years’. As co-presidents, it is our duty to help portfolios work within their groups but also collaborate when  necessary. Mr Fleming has also been kind enough to give us his wise words teaching us how a great leader should be. We’ve held many successful events like Harmony day - bringing everyone closer, House Challenge afternoon - embracing the sporting spirit; Community Liaison successfully raised donations for Big Ears Animal Sanctuary, after School Enhancement had a barbeque to add towards our end of year gift to school. Amongst these inclusive events, we have also successfully built a strong relationship with our feeder primary schools; particularly Norwood Primary. During terms two and three, Harry wrote up a roster for two of our members to assist Norwood Primary with umpiring their Grade 5-6 sports. Our SLB were also there to help out when East Launceston, Punchbowl, Waverley and Ravenswood Primary had their athletics carnivals. Student Transition have been working overtime to cooperate with Beacon Foundation to put together industry live sessions and their speed careers day, which was a succesful event.

As it is leading into the end of our year, our board has started to plan how we would like to end our time at Queechy. House captains are working hard in conjunction with the HPE staff to guarantee Athletics Carnival is as inclusive as possible. They’re also arranging to have another  House Challenge day, and hopefully a Pink Stumps day to support the McGrath Foundation. As a collective, SLB are deciding what our desired legacy is and how we can achieve it. The end of year gift to school will be apart of this legacy; there have been brilliant ideas thrown around but, our decision will remain confidential for the time being. Making sure next years SLB have the smoothest transition is in our best interest, and we are actively working with Mrs Mesman, Mr Bent, and Mr Fleming so our group is providing as much information as we can to further improve the upcoming Student Leadership Board. 

We want to personally thank each parent and staff member for your support throughout the year and we look forward to continuing working with everyone to ensure Queechy achieves its motto: Quality, Harmony, and Success. 

Anna and Harry
2019 Co-Presidents

In consultation with the School Association, the Queechy View yearly magazine will no longer be published based on the following factors: 

• Other forms of communication provide our school community with current events, ie Facebook, electronic newsletter, APP
• Ability to publish student photos/names in publications has been further restricted in relation to student safety
• The number of copies purchased has reduced in recent years, making the publication of the magazine unviable.

In lieu of this change, to ensure our current grade 10 year group leave with some memories of their time at Queechy High School, the final newsletter for 2019 will be a Grade 10 commemorative edition.

Hello, I’m Lily Deeth the new School Psychologist. Thank you for welcoming me to Queechy. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all and working with the lovely young people here that need some support. I’m really interested in adolescent mental health and student wellbeing. I will be here on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Friday’s. On Wednesday’s and Thursday’s I work in private practice at Launceston Therapy Clinic.

My approach to therapy is to take interventions from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Schema Therapy and develop treatment plans that suit individual clients/students.

I grew up in Launie, spent ten years in Melbourne, returned to Tassie finish my studies (MPsych(Clin)), and have been back here for a year now. I am very happy to be home!

Grade 7 students have been studying the mathematical language of Algebra. They have used letters and symbols to communicate rules and patterns related to real-life problems. Algebra is used in many different future pathways such as engineering, architecture, medicine and finance. The grade 7 course has given students an insight into how algebra will be used in the rest of their lives.

Students in 7G have been focusing on the structure of "Colour Wheels" and how each colour corresponds. 

Term 4 sees all grades practicing for the upcoming School Athletic Carnival. Students have been given the chance to not only practice running events, they have also had the chance to participate in field events. Students have had the opportunity to throw a shot put, discus and javelin and also the chance to jump both long and triple jump. All this practice is leading up to our Athletics Carnival which is being held at Queechy High School on the 6^th and 7^th of November.

Jeremiah Soetan is our new chaplain! He has years of experience working as a teacher in different schools. Jeremiah has a new interest in helping young people in his new role as our chaplain at Queechy High School.

The Mobile Dental Service will be in the school from next Monday.  If you have already returned your form to the office your son or daughter will be seen by the dentists next week.  Please note that if you are eligible for CBDF funding (Family Tax Benefit A) there will be no out of pocket charge.  If you have returned the form and are not eligible, the dental service will contact you and explain how payment can be made before the appointment time.  If you wish to attend the appointment with your child, please contact the office by end of day on Friday so that we can schedule an appropriate time slot.   If you have not returned the forms yet and wish to take up  the offer please get them back ASAP.

MOBILE DENTAL CLINICS AUSTRALIA (MDCA):

Mobile Dental Clinics Australia (MDCA) is a wholly Australian owned company providing mobile emergency, general and dental laboratory services throughout Melbourne and Victoria.

We offer convenient, affordable and professional services to students.  By attending regular check-ups from an early age, we hope to provide early intervention and essential care to your children.

FEE AND CHARGES:

Oral examination - Code and Amount Claimed (88011 - $52.65)                

Scale, clean and fluoride - Code and Amount Claimed
(88114-$89.70/88121-$34.55)                                                                                                                          

*  Oral examination, clean and fluoride application

*  Fissure seals

*  Temporary and permanent fillings

*  Education

*  Treatment plan for parents

*  Oral examination, clean and fluoride application

*  Education

*  Treatment plan for parents

Additional care:

If students seen are found to require additional treatment, their parent/guardian will be contacted. Additional treatments may include fissure seals, fillings, extractions, x-rays.

Over the year, Grade 8 Science have been investiging the organ systems of the human body, chemical reactions and the elements; as well as rocks, minerals and mining. For our final term we are investigating energy changes and energy efficiency. Students will have the opportunity to engage in a range of different investigations including optimising wind turbines and building catapaults.

On Thursday October 17^th after an intense couple of days of exams, all Grade 10 students had the pleasure of attending the Rural Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) work shop run by Rural Youth, in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Tasmania.

The whole grade travelled to Symmons Plains where we were met by the course instructors and the grade was broken up into four groups. Each group moved around different presentations all relating to driver safety and awareness. There were some powerful messages delivered in some presentations around road accident deaths, traumatic brain injury and consequences around speeding, alcohol and drug consumption. A favourite presentation for many students was the emergency stopping distances, particularly when the pedestrian dummy was involved!

It was a great day and the students got a lot of information in time for them to begin their driving careers. Day well spent!

In History, 9B and 9E have been researching the movement of people after the Industrial Revolution and its impact on society. This has included setting questions about personally chosen texts on slavery, researching the stories of convicts and using data to form conclusions to individually identified questions such as Did men and women convicts receive similar sentences for the same crimes?  

A major assignment for this unit has involved students examining the experiences of Aboriginal peoples after the arrival of convicts and free settlers. Work on this included creation of speeches, poems, songs and artwork on the theme of Voice, Treaty, Truth for Reconciliation Tasmania’s Youth Speakout in September.

Along with 8B and 10B students who also submitted work to Reconciliation Tasmania, 9B and 9E represented Queechy well at the Youth Speakout presentationa in Hobart, during September. At Parliament House, Maddi and Janeeva (8B) confidently presented their poem Voice, Treaty, Truth, calling for a treaty to rectify the wrongs of the past. Later Nikitta and Tamzin (9E) opened celebrations at Government House with their song Her Truth has Descended about Truganini’s experiences, followed by presentation of Brianna from 9B’s heartfelt poetry. Ex-Queechy student Regina was so motivated by her research when at Queechy that she made visits back to ensure her work with Chloe (9E) was fully completed. Both girls did us proud with their speech to the Government House audience on the need for greater communication between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Given our students contributions, genuine enthusiasm and awareness of our history, perhaps we will see some of them some day in the future in Parliament or Government House.

On Monday 21^St and Tuesday 22^nd October, classes from grade 8 had the opportunity to go the Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens and Parliament House. This was an excursion to support the Civics and Citizenship unit that we are currently studying in HASS.

It was an amazing experience for not just the students but also the teachers. My group went to the Botanical Gardens first where we had lunch and were given the opportunity to look around the beautiful gardens. It was such a relaxing and peaceful place, with plants to look at from all over the world. After lunch, we went to Parliament House where we were given a guided tour and participated in a role play explaining what the House of Assembly does and how it works. We also visited the Long Room and the Legislative Council Chamber.
Personally, the day was an amazing chance to learn about Parliament and to make many memories, including those made on the bus ride down!
Thank you to all the teachers that made these two days possible.

Congratulations to Oliver (Grade 7) who recently traveled to Coffs Harbour with 3 other Tasmanian students as part of the state U13 Soccer Team. 

Class Times

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2021 Term Dates

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