Thank you to all families for the support we have received as a school during these difficult times.

We have been working hard as a school to ensure appropriate hygiene and social distancing for our students and staff.
We have been able to produce a suite of at-home resources for students to engage with if they are not at school. These resources have been based on work that is happening in some of our core classes in each grade.
We have worked hard to ensure a calm, well-informed environment for our students and staff.
We have been constantly updating our internal procedures as new information comes in from the Department of Education.

We understand that many of our families no longer have regular employment and have this in the front of our mind as we try to supply the highest level of support possible to your children and yourselves.

We will still be open next week for young people who are unable to stay at home.

The following week will be student free at Queechy as our staff prepare for online offerings from the start of term 2.

Term 2 Learning

Based on the latest information schools will re-open at the beginning of term two. There will be three versions of what will be offered. It is important to note that the learning activities are going to be as similar as possible regardless of if the work is being accessed on-line, off-line (paper copies), or at school.

At School: The school will be re-timetabled based on attending student numbers and reviewed on a daily basis. Students will be able to attend regular core subjects and limited option classes during this time. This will be available for students who are unable to remain at home.

On-Line: This option involves students accessing their learning through on-line means using either their phone or a device such as a laptop, tablet or PC. This mode of delivery will allow for student video linkups, on-line submission of work for marking and assessment and regular check-ins with our teaching staff. The content will be exactly the same as what we are delivering during our core time at school.

Off-line: Paper based packages of learning will be sent home to those families who do not have any facilities to support on-line learning. The activities will be the same as those available either on-line or at school. A teacher will keep in touch with students via phone check-ins and where possible video hook-up.

Learning at Home

Advice to parents about supporting learnng at home can be found at www.education.tas.gov.au/learning-at-home/

Some useful information for you to think about from this website:

Develop a routine

Children and young people are used to the routine and structure of school. To support their ongoing learning, it is important they have as much routine and certainty as possible in their day. You can support your child or young person’s learning by –

• Involving your child in establishing a simple, consistent, and responsive daily routine
• Including times for eating, reading, talking, writing, playing and exercise.
• Displaying your daily routine so everyone in the family can see it.
• Creating a balance between more formal learning with time for reading books, exploring the outdoors and child initiated learning opportunities.
• Being prepared for things not going to plan and being flexible.

Creating a supportive learning space

It is a good idea to set up an ‘at home’ learning space where children have access to the things they need A dedicated learning space separates work and play which supports children’s focus and concentration. This will allow you to organise and manage learning materials and assist where necessary.

• Involve your child in creating their learning space.
• Consider the age and independence of your child when deciding on the location of the learning space
• Remember to use safe outdoor spaces for learning throughout the day. 

Please take care during these uncertain times and know that as a school we are here to support you as best we can, always. 

Warm Regards,

Rob Fleming

Midford Uniform Shop Operations

As the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to evolve, we want to share with you some important information about the steps we are taking to minimise the risk of exposure of customers and staff of Midford’s Launceston shop.

Midford has implemented a Health & Safety Plan across our following a risk assessment process. This plan outlines the actions we have taken to minimise the potential spread and impact of the virus on staff, customers and the business. It is the responsibility of all Midford staff to ensure that all recommended safety actions are implemented across our business.

Currently the advice of the chief medical officers of every state of Australia is that schools should remain open and the vast majority of our schools are following that advice. While that is the case Midford’s Launceston shop will continue to trade. The current situation is very fluid and if circumstance change or there are specific directives from the government we will react to them as they occur.

To allow the shop to continue to trade and at the same time to minimise risk to customers and staff we are implementing some operational changes within our business.

Health & Safety

The priority in the shop is the health and safety of our customers and staff. With that in mind we will be implementing some operational changes within the uniform shop.

From Monday March 23 the following changes will be put in place;

Shop Access & Fittings

• To maintain social distancing student family groups will need to remain outside of the shop until they are invited in by a shop staff member.
• We will limit the number of student family groups in the shops in line with government guidelines for social distancing.
• Those family members not essential to the fitting process will need to remain outside of the shop.
• School and sports bags are to be left outside the shop.
• No food or drinks are to be bought into the shop.
• Customers will not be able to use shop infrastructure such as phones.
• We will restrict the use of try on ranges. Please come with knowledge of your child’s current Midford garment size where possible.

Transactions

• All transaction will be via EFTPOS, credit card or debit card only. We will no longer be accepting cash sales.
• Midford staff will not handle customer’s EFTPOS, credit card or debit cards.
• Should a student need to contact a parent to process a credit card payment they will need to use their own phone.
• Midford staff will not handle a customer’s mobile phone but can converse with parents with the speaker turned on.

Shop Cleaning

• EFTPOS machines and key pads will be cleaned regularly.
• All surfaces, including counters and change rooms will be cleaned regularly.

Recommendations

To assist our staff in managing the flow of customers through the shop in the lead up to the end of term and change over to winter uniform we would like to make the following recommendations.

Appointments

• We encourage students and families to first make an appointment before attending the shop especially in the case of a major fit out.
• Priority will be given to those customers with scheduled appointments.

Winter Uniform – Changeover

Some of the measures we are putting in place to promote social distancing and minimise risk may result in delays in service. If your school changes to a winter uniform in Term 2 we would encourage all students and families to make an appointment for a fitting as soon as possible. This will assist greatly in managing the flow of customers through the shop and ensure customers do not experience lengthy delays.

Possible Shop Closure

At this point and while it is safe to do so Midford will maintain the operation of the Launceston Shop as normal, however should we be classified as a non essential service as some stage in the future we may be forced to close. In that event we will provide further communication through your school.

We will keep you up to date should circumstance in the school change in the coming days and weeks. 

At Midford, we remain committed to supporting our school communities and staff throughout this time. We are ready to help you in-store and online. Please take care and thank you for your continued support.

OPENING HOURS
Please note to all customers,
Due to COVID-19 our
opening hours have changed to
Monday to Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday 9am-2pm

Andrew Sinclair
Divisional Manager

Hi all,

Let me introduce myself and give you an idea of my role here at Queechy High.
My name is Paul Burton and I’m married with four daughters, 3 are teens and one ‘wanna’ be teen. I have a background of 30 years in the building industry and 20 years pastoral ministry experience, both voluntary and paid

I have been a Chaplain at Exeter and Kings Meadows High schools for a little over 12 months, which I have found very rewarding, and continue there 4 days a week, along with Monday’s here at Queechy (which I started 23^rd March). If you are unfamiliar with what a school Chaplain does you can find a fact sheet on the education website by following the link attached. Take the time to check it out:

https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-sheets/school-chaplaincy/

In a nutshell, one thing you can be certain of is that a Chaplains role is not to convert people to a religion but, rather to offer pastoral care, help and support within the school community, and a listening ear in times of stress or difficulty. Our role is to ensure that you are not going through difficult times alone and to celebrate any ‘life’ victories with you, offering emotional, minor psychological and spiritual care (regardless of spiritual persuasion). I provide this in conjunction with the support team at the school which includes the school psychologist, social worker and nurse.

Although I’ve only just started I have found the staff at Queechy High to be very accommodating and really supportive, allowing me to join in on lessons and assist with students who might need a little bit of extra help and I look forward to being able to do this further into the future. This has given me an opportunity to meet students and staff and see just how hard everyone at the school work’s and offer encouragement and support where it’s needed.

I am looking forward to the remainder or 2020 and being part of the school community as we support and encourage students in their High Schooling.

If you have any further questions or would just like to touch base for a chat so you can get to know me, please contact me at the school during school hours on Monday’s, I would love to meet you. 

Warm regards, 

Chappy Paul

Queechy will be offering Year 11 from the start of next year and Year 12 by 2022.  It will be operating out of E Block in new facilities with a focus on making community connections and getting ready for the workforce. 

At Queechy we want all students to have the opportunity to succeed at college and
work towards gaining their TCE. Students will be given plenty of information about offerings at Newstead College and Launceston College but for some students, staying here a bit longer will set them up for greater long-term success.   

Subject choice will be smaller but there will be Health/PE, Maths, English, HASS and Work Preparation options available.  Classes will also be smaller with more room for one on one teacher support. Once our subject offerings have been approved by TASC we’ll provide more information. 

If you or your child would like to learn more about what we can offer you next year please contact Miss Lisa Mitchell on 6341 4455 or lisa.mitchell@education.tas.gov.au (beware there are 4 people with this name in the department so check for the one at QHS). 

DID YOU KNOW?

You can be dual enrolment. That’s where you study some of your subjects at Newstead College, Launceston College or another facility but you also stay studying at Queechy for some of your subjects.

On Wednesday March 11 Grade 8 Art students attended the Glover Prize landscape exhibition at Evandale.

We are about to start a landscape painting unit, so attending the exhibition will be a great influence on our students own artworks.

Grade 7’s have been continuing with their Number and Place Value unit, focussing on adding and subtracting integers. Students played a game called “Up, Down, Flying Around” which comprised of adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers in a relatable way. After playing the game with their peers, students then came up with their own game that could be used to help other students with adding and subtracting integers. We have seen some great games from grade 7 students, including snakes and ladders, a bingo game and a take-off of monopoly. This game made up part of their major assessment task for this unit.

In year 8 science, students have been learning about cells and the differences and similarities between plant and animal cells. Students have had the opportunity to learn how to use a microscope to view different types of plant and animal organelles. In groups, students designed and completed their plant and animal cells using a range of different materials to represent the function and structure of the organelles. Students also successfully completed their first assignment where they created an analogy that explained the structure and function of organelles within a plant/animal cell. Students presented their work on posters which included their “Cell City.” Grade 8 science is now moving onto learning about body systems.

All Grade 7 classes were recently involved in a Civics and Citizenship student program. This was hosted by a Parliamentary Education Officer from Canberra. Mrs Bridget Archer MP even made a guest appearance for one of the sessions.

Each class spent 70 minutes exploring the function and significance of the Australian Parliament. This involved listening to interesting stories and role playing various scenarios.

The curriculum-aligned program was a great introduction to our Civics and Citizenship unit coming up next term.

MAT Maths Problem Solving Competition

Last week 20 students from all grades participated in the Mathematics Association of Tasmania’s Problem Solving Competition.

An example problem from the competition might be something like this magic square! In the square below, each row, column and diagonal need to add to give 34. Can you work out the answer? How can you check if you are right?

On Tuesday 17th March 2020 at 12:10hrs in Launceston, Tasmania, which was Monday 16th March 2020 at 21:00hrs in Brownsburg, Indiana, U.S.A.; our PLTW Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) students participated in the potential of video conferencing in education.

Queechy High school as the only PLTW education centre outside of the U.S. education system, has formed an informal learning partnership with Brownsburg High School in Indiana, U.S.A.

QHS students conversed with our American teaching colleague Mrs Chris Floyd about PLTW and our cultural differences e.g. Vegemite and Chips Vs Fries.

Class Times

Who to Contact:

2021 Term Dates

2021 Student Free Days: