We are all extremely proud of the efforts of our two F1 in Schools teams who competed in Victoria last week. The feedback from our staff was outstanding in relation to the way the teams competed, their behaviour and especially their support of each other and the other teams at the event. We will be seeing a detailed report from the teams in our next newsletter. Well done to all the students who travelled away and a big thank you to Murat Djakic and Donna Frankcombe for your ongoing support of the teams.

I had the pleasure of joining the Grade 9 camp on Thursday at Narawntapu National Park. The staff team put together a varied and exciting series of experiences for students including: Kayaking, sailing, fishing, paddle boarding, swimming, boating, mountain bike riding and walking, lots and lots of walking!

The first day saw a 15km trek in warm conditions provide a real challenge for our students to rise to. I was able to join in with the fishing crew on Thursday and caught the only fish for the day, all 10cm of it! The camp is a great way for our staff and students to work together in a very different environment. The challenges that camps provide to students helps them move out of their comfort zone and try things they might otherwise not experience.

Thank you to the staff who organised and ran the camp this year, great effort to all concerned.

Our School Association nominations and election are upon us and I again encourage any parents who would like to be involved to fill out the nomination form in this copy of the newsletter and return to Tanya Smart as soon as possible. We meet once a term on a Wednesday from 7:00-8:30 to discuss issues that are important to parents. It is also an opportunity to find out more about the way we are improving our school.

It is with great sadness that we recognise the victims in Christchurch from last week. We have a very diverse school population at Queechy and we strive to achieve harmony as one of our key school values. If you think your son or daughter has been adversely affected by this incident then please ensure you make us aware and supports can be provided as appropriate.

Warm regards 

Rob Fleming 
Principal 

During the first half of Term One for 2019, our Year 10 students have completed the Money and Financial mathematics unit and are currently working on Statistics. Throughout the finance unit, students were taught how to calculate simple and compound interest and recognise the connection between the two. Students were given exposure to the understanding of how interest is calculated, make decisions on what investments were better than others and could justify financial decisions. Students were also able to investigate how equipment depreciates and how to calculate depreciation.

During the Statistics unit, students will compare data sets, describe statistical relationships between two continuous variables and evaluate statistical reports.

Students are again fortunate this year to be given the opportunity to access our online mathematical resource, Mathspace:

This program offers students an opportunity to continue developing skills being taught in the classroom but also allows students to work at their own pace throughout the Australian curriculum.

If you have any questions regarding the use of this website, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s maths teacher or myself on zoe.mitchell@education.tas.gov.au. 

As part of a new initiative starting this year, the Northern High Schools Sports Association (NHSSA) has begun a girl’s football roster. Every Wednesday afternoon the girls play against different local northern high schools. It is a great way to feel part of a team and to gain experience in playing football. Queechy has started the season off with a bang, currently sitting undefeated. A special mention to the students from
Grade 7 and 8 that have been helping the team every week. Your enthusiasm is awesome.

A glorious 25ºC summer’s day enticed
Queechy High School students to don the togs and participate in the fun, frivolity and fast-paced action of the annual Swimming Carnival, held at the Launceston Aquatic Centre on Monday 19 March, 2019.

The stunning array of novelty events, combined with the variety of race lengths and heats, provided multiple opportunities for all students to participate and enjoy. And revel they did! From the waterslide to the streamlined swimming events, together staff and students enjoyed a superb day in celebration of the achievements of all participating in the action-packed carnival.

Grade 7 students are currently studying a unit about recounting narrative texts. During this unit we have been focusing on text structuring and writing from varied perspectives, using a number of different narrative styles, such as letters, stories and movies.

A number of our classes are completing their major assessment piece for the term, by writing a recount of the movie Soul Surfer.

Hannah Brickhill

In Grade 7 HASS, classes have been learning about Ancient Civilisations. Students have been working collaboratively to develop inquiry skills and investigate the civilisations of Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, Persia, India and the Mayans.

7E have been preparing and presenting their investigations to their peers.

Emmalie Baylis

Dear Parent/Guardian

NAPLAN is moving completely online in 2019. This means moving NAPLAN from paper-based assessments to online-based assessments.  NAPLAN Online will provide better assessment and more precise results. The assessments feature a tailored test design where the questions a student receives will depend on their answers to previous questions.

 Tasmanian schools will participate in NAPLAN Online from 2019.

NAPLAN Online testing will be held from the:

14th May - 24th May 2019.

NAPLAN Online 2019 will include four components, Writing, Numeracy, Conventions of Language and Reading. For 2019 Year Three students will be completing a paper based Writing Test. Online Testing will be available for each of the NAPLAN year levels (3, 5, 7 and 9)

Schools will receive results and reports for participants following the completion of NAPLAN Online 2019. Individual Student Reports will have the same format as the results from the paper based testing. The same report format is used for every student in Australia.

Individual student performance in NAPLAN is shown on a national achievement scale for each test. The performance of individual students can be compared to the average performance of all students in Australia.

Security and privacy are key requirements for the delivery of national testing. The online assessment platform has been designed to comply with relevant national data security policies and guidelines as well as data encryption standards. It meets the requirements of the Australian Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework and Information Security Manual to protect privacy of data, including any personal student data, required to be used.

Thank you, in anticipation, for you and your child’s participation in this important national initiative.

 

Queechy High School is fundraising with Entertainment!

Your support really helps, so we’re thrilled to let you know about special bonus Early Bird Entertainment Membership Offers for loyal supporters.   Pre-order the NEW 2019 | 2020 Entertainment Membership and receive bonus offers you can use right away!

"The Entertainment Membership is great value. With lots of instant savings. It more than outweighs the price. There is something for everyone – casual and fine dining, adventure and family activities. I couldn't live without it. Plus, I get to support a good cause.” – Zana B. Sydney

The Annual General Meeting of our school association will be held at school at 7pm on Wednesday 10 April 2019 in the main office. All office bearer positions will be declared vacant. Nominations are open to all school association members, with all parents of students enrolled at Queechy eligible for office bearer positions and committee member positions.

As our Year 10 students prepare to transition to further education and training and leave high school, our new Year 7’s are just beginning their journey at Queechy. So too will parents and community members leave with those students so it is vital that new people take on the responsibility of ensuring our school association continues.

The tasks associated with the school association are not onerous and are very rewarding.
Please obtain a copy of the nomination form at the school office or contact us via our email address queechy.sa@gmail.com for a form or further information. We look forward to seeing you there.

Jason Orr
Chairperson 

Grade 9 and 10 Business students began this year with a great class activity involving some of the basics of supply and demand. The class divided into groups, then were given instructions on making a prototype cup. The challenge given was then to think about customer demand and design a new product to cater for this demand. The final activity was to present a 30 second elevator pitch to the class on their design and the feasibility of their new product.

Lots of activity followed, with groups forgetting instructions and clambering to finish their first prototype, and then practicing how they would present.

The aim was to produce and attempt to convince their peers of how brilliant their idea was and therefore to win backing for their product.

All students were involved in some fun with this. It was a great way to introduce students to concepts involved in planning a product.

Some of the creative ideas shared were; portable pet friendly drink containers, reusable cleaning sets of various sizes and a product aimed at children, the parent cup with a free collectable dinosaur! 

Queechy Alliance Middle Years Literacy Project

In 2018 staff in the Queechy Alliance (QA) developed our Instructional Model (IM). In-School Leaders created
Support Materials to assist staff with their understanding of the phases of the Instructional Model and in 2019 we will continue to establish consistent knowledge about each of them in more depth.

In Term 1, QA schools have been involved in Professional Learning about the Instructional Model (IM) – an overview, the Engage phase and the Review phase.

The Overview was presented by In-School Leaders in their own schools on February 4^th or 5^th. This was timely to revise the four phases within the IM: Engage, Explicit Teaching, Targeted Learning and Review and to remind staff about the importance of the Core – the elements that are in the centre of the IM because they fit into each phase: Effective Feedback, Formative Assessment, Quality Questioning.

On the morning of February 27^th (Launceston Cup Day), staff in all schools were presented with the same key ideas in the Engage phase with a specific focus on Connect to Learning and Learning Intentions. Connect to Learning is the link or hook to engage learners in the introduction of the content/concept/skill. Learning Intentions describe what students need to learn and are shared with them at the beginning of the lesson. They focus on outcomes rather than activities to be completed.

On Tuesday 12^th March, over 200 QA staff attended a late night PL on the Review phase at Ravenswood Heights Primary School. We were fortunate to have Shireen Thomas (our Principal Network Leader) attend and remind us how the IM work fits into the big picture of education. Pamela Macklin (external School Improvement consultant) introduced the Review phase and talked about the importance of Revisiting the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria and Rob Fleming (Principal - Queechy High School) summarised the session with the analogy of “One school, seven campuses”. That is, the Queechy Alliance is our “one school” and each individual school is a campus of the QA. A great image!

Staff had time to practise using their knowledge to devise Learning Intentions for their planning and, having trialled different strategies to gather Evidence of learning, they shared the positives and challenges with staff from other schools.

If you have any questions regarding the MYLP please contact your In School Leader (Ann-Marie McKendrick).

Belinda Simpson

QA MYLP Coordinator

2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table, so it is fitting that in Year 10 Science, Mrs Heynes’ class has been studying just that! Students used a flame test to see the effect that adding energy has on different elements. They observed a variety of colour changes depending on the elements used. The colours given off are due to electrons jumping around inside the atoms. How cool is that?!

Student Absence SMS The main contact of the student will receive an SMS message if they are an unexplained absence during Tutor Group. If the student arrives after 9:00am and signs in you will still receive the message as they were absent from Tutor Group. Please reply to the message with the child’s name, date, and details of your child’s absence. Parents have the option of messaging the school to advise of explained absences. Can parents please double check that our school SMS number has not been blocked in your phone settings. To avoid receiving an SMS please phone the school on 6341 4455 to advise of your child’s absence before 8:45am or leave a message on the Absent Student Message Bank 6341 4444.

Road Safety A reminder to students crossing roads on their way to and from school, to be alert and aware of the dangers when in and around traffic.

Validation Forms Thank you to all parents/guardians who completed student Validation Forms during book sales. Forms that were not completed during books sales have been posted home to parents.  Could we request that they be completed, signed and returned to the school office as soon as possible. This allows us to have the most updated details to contact parents/guardians.

School Uniforms  A reminder to all parents and students, to name and label all articles of clothing to help identify lost or missing uniforms.

Parents/carers collecting student/s during class time – Please allow extra time There are occasions when a parent/carer needs to collect their child from class during the course of the day, i.e. appointments, leaving early etc. When this happens, the student has to be called or collected from the classroom. This causes disruption to your child, the teacher, the class and regularly to the whole school if the student has to be paged.  If your child has to be taken out of class time, where possible, we will avoid using the PA system and instead someone will collect your child from the classroom and this may take some time depending on where your child’s class is. We value the learning of our students and therefore ask that where possible, you collect your child during the break times (times shown below) and in particular if you wish to take your child early in the afternoon, the best time is over the lunch break (1:10pm – 1:50pm) before the start of Block 4, i.e. 1:50pm. Recess 1 10:10am – 10:30am Recess 2 11:40am – 12:00pm Lunch 1:10pm – 1:50pm Thank you for your understanding. Rob Fleming Principal

PARKING IN SCHOOL GROUNDS When parking in the school grounds, please use the visitor carpark, the parking bays near the visitor carpark or the area next to the tennis courts. Please do not park in the bus parking areas as this space is reserved for buses only and this creates further congestion.  Also, a reminder that the disabled park spots are only to be used by permit holders and that permits must be displayed. Due to safety concerns please avoid using the staff car park when dropping off or picking up students.

MAILING OF INVOICES/STATEMENTS All statements/invoices are emailed out from our central office. This also applies to families who have set up an instalment plan with the school earlier in the year Receipts will be posted to those families who have opted to have payments made by credit card. Credit card payments are deducted from your account on the 20th of each month or the first business day after the 20th.

Up Coming Dates

14 May - 24 May	NAPLAN
20 May	Grade 10 Immunisations (Meningococcal)
20 May	Grade 7 Immunisations (1st Visit)
23 May - 24 May	Science and Engineering Challenge
28 May	Newstead College Visit (Grade 10)
28 May	Worlds Greatest Shave
29 May	Bulldogs Cup Day
29 May	School Association Meeting

2019 Term Dates

Term 1:	Wednesday 6 February – Friday 12 April
Term 2:	Monday 29 April – Friday 5 July
Term 3:	Monday 22 July – Friday 27 September
Term 4:	Monday 14 October – Thursday 19 December

 

2019 Student Free Days

Monday 22 July

Friday 1 November

 

Class Times

Tutor Group:	8:45am – 9:00am
Block 1:	9:00am – 10:10am
Recess 1:	10:10am – 10:30am
Block 2:	10:30am – 11:40am
Recess 2:	11:40am – 12:00pm
Block 3:	12:00pm – 1:10pm
Lunch:	1:10pm – 1:50pm
Block 4:	1:50pm – 2:57pm

Who to Contact

Principal:	Rob Fleming
Assistant Principals:	Grade 7/8: Caleb Turale Grade 9/10: Heather Jackson
ASTs:	Grade 7: Katrina Davenport Grade 8: Linda House Grade 9: Nigel Bent Grade 10: Kate Green Tier 3 Program: Donna Frankcombe
Grade Advisors:	Grade 7: Ben Van Est / Zoe Mesman Grade 8: Luke Tepper Grade 9: Emmalie Baylis / Ryan Innes Grade 10: Kim Anderson / Lochy Wilkinson- Reed
School Business Manager:	Tanya Smart
School Psychologist:	Lisa Docking
School Social Worker:	Alicia Hodge
School Nurse:	Peter Jacobson
School Chaplain:	Tracey Cassin

Queechy’s New Website

We have recently transformed our website with Schoolzine. To view our latest design click the link below!

Introducing Our New App

We have recently moved over to a new App with Schoolzine. This App will improve the way we communicate with parents and the community through the use of appropriate technology. Due to this change over, Queechy’s Skoolbag App is no longer in use and does not provide up to date information. Below are the details on how to download the App.