Filter Content
Welcome back to all families and staff to Scottsdale High School for 2024. We hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoyed the summer sunshine. I would like to particularly welcome our new students and their families who have joined us across all grades since the start of this year. We have been very pleased with how our new students have settled in. Scottsdale High School is an inclusive space for all students and staff and this has been evident. Thank you to families for supporting their child to wear school uniform.
Term 1 will fly by quickly, so it is important that we make the most of every day.
Students have made a positive start to the year with teachers focused on creating calm and orderly learning environments where students are explicitly taught the learning routines, expectations of the different learning environments and where positive working relationships with peers and teachers are established.
Thank you to our School Business Manager, Paige Howard, for co-ordinating a number of projects over the school holidays, one being a large deck off the D-Block classrooms which will allow for outdoor learning for our students. We have now also created a more inviting space for our students to enjoy at break times in the courtyard with astroturf being put down and more seating created for students to use. The Administration Team and EFAs have been busy preparing the school for students and the start of the school year. Thank you to our TAs for their work in helping us get ready for our students’ return.
Welcome to our New Staff
We are delighted to welcome the following teachers/staff to Scottsdale High School for 2024:
Mr Bradley Tuffin – teaching Year 9/10 Maths/Science and Year 7 HPE
Mr Matt Wootton – teaching Year 7/8 Maths/Science and Year 7 Music and Recreational Pursuits
Ms Emma Mou – School Psychologist
Welcome back to Ms Jones who was on LSL in Term 4, 2023 and to Mrs Cara Howlett who is AST for Student Support.
Mrs Nicole Smith is our School Business Manager for 2024 while Ms Paige Howard is on study leave for the year. We wish Ms Howard all the best with her university studies and all her dedicated work at our school.
Welcome to Christine Hughes and Tammy Beveridge who have joined our EFA team.
Important upcoming dates for Term 1
Please be aware of these dates:
Launceston Cup (Student Free Day) Wednesday 28th February
Whole School Photos Day Tuesday 19th March
NAPLAN Year 7 and 9 will be held from the 12th to the 22nd March
Year 7 camp 26th-28th March
Easter – Friday 29th March to Tuesday 2nd April (Students return on Wednesday 3rd April)
Aquatic Carnival – dates to be confirmed
School Association – Tuesday 20th February 6.15pm
Welcome back to a new school year. We would love to extend an invite to all new and current families to attend or be a member of the Scottsdale High School Association. The School Association is a great way to stay informed and to have an input into what is happening at school.
We would love to see lots of smiling faces at our first meeting for 2024 on Tuesday 20th February at 6:15pm in the Library.
Communication Platforms for Scottsdale High School
Effective communication between our school and the student’s parent/carer is important in achieving successful education outcomes for each student.
Communication: Our school is required to inform parents/carers of all matters related to school policy and organisation. The School Association provides the forum for parents/carers to have input and to approve policy changes. Some of this information is contained in our Parent Handbook, and also in our Newsletter and website, along with notices issued from our school, as appropriate.
Parent/Carers: are required to inform our school of the duration and cause of any student absence or lateness. The Administration Office is available from 8:00am – 4:00pm. Parents/carers are also required to inform our school of any medical condition or medication which may affect the student’s safety, behaviour or performance. If a student needs regular medication, a medical form (available from the Admin Office) must be completed.
EDSmart, a new messaging platform, is our being rolled out to all schools this year with Scottsdale High going live on 26th February. Please see the information regarding EDSmart further on in the newsletter.
SchoolStream is one of our main forms of communication along with Schoolzine. Many school notices are shared through SchoolStream. SchoolStream has key dates for your reference.
Our school website provides an introduction to our school for those wanting general information.
Facebook: this is up to date and regular news and information that focuses on celebration, school activities and events along with urgent sharing of information.https://www.facebook.com/ScottsdaleHighSchoolTasmania/
Newsletter: this is our main celebration and communication of student/school achievements, events and news. This is published every second Friday through Schoolzine.
Home Group: Every student is a member of a grade-based home group. The teacher in charge of that group, the Home Group Teacher, is the first point of contact with our school and can be contacted through our Admin Office or via email or a note.
Other members of staff: Admin Team, Subject Teachers, ASTs on the Grade, School Nurse, School Psychologist, Social Worker, Assistant Principals, or the Principal may be contacted by phone, letter or email depending on the nature of the concern or the information required. Please note that between 8:45am and 3:10pm the teaching staff are involved with the learning program. Appointments may be made by contacting our Admin Team.
Contact by teachers: Where there is a matter of concern, teachers may contact home by phone, text message, email or letter. The purpose of such contact is to inform parent/carers of matters concerning their child’s progress and welfare and to seek parental support in resolving issues and helping the child.
Parent information evenings: These are held at various times throughout the year and focus on such areas as transition, option choices and policy reviews.
First Aid: We have several staff who are qualified to provide First Aid support to our students and staff. If a student is feeling unwell or injured, the correct procedure is for them to get a signed pass from their teacher to go to the Admin office and ask for First Aid assistance. The First Aid officer will then determine if the student is well enough to stay at school or go home. The First Aid officer will then contact parents/carers if the student needs to go home.
Students Using Mobile Phones – Off and Away All Day
Whilst Scottsdale High School acknowledges that we live in a technology-rich world where mobile phones are an important communication tool, research has found that mobile phones can be disruptive in classrooms and open to misuse at school. The unregulated presence of mobile phones in classrooms can undermine students’ capacity to think, learn, remember, pay attention and regulate emotion.
At recess and lunchtime, opportunities for students to communicate with each other face-to-face or be involved in physical activity are also valued, rather than students being focused on a mobile phone, particularly when they are using it to engage with social media.
- Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them set to silent or switched off and securely stored during school hours (that is, mobile phones are Off and Away prior to the start of Home Group at 8:50am and are not to be accessed until lessons conclude at 3:00pm)
- When parents need to communicate with their children during the school day, we ask that this is through the Administration Office
- For further information please refer to the DECYP policy ‘Use of Mobile Phones by Students at School’.
Elizabeth Williams
Principal
Our school will be switching over to a new messaging platform for communicating with you. This will replace our current system MGM messaging.
The new platform, called EdSmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging i.e. SMS and emails. For now, it will be used to manage absences messages i.e. you will receive a SMS or email alert if your child is absent from school requesting a response. It will also allow us to send a communication message to all parent/guardians.
The platform will, over time, be rolled out across all Tasmanian Government Schools and new features will be added.
You will receive a text message and/or an email with further details. Note, the text message sender will be a shortened version of our school’s name - Please keep an eye out for it!
Further information is available on the Department’s website.
On the 3rd and 4th February Tori Hall and Miss Rainbow travelled to Canberra. The key focus of this visit was to go to the Australian War Memorial site. Here all prize winners from the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize were able to learn from the museum staff information related to World War One and sites of battles located on the Western Front. As part of this visit all members placed a poppy in the Roll of Honour Wall for a fallen solider, they have been researching the history of. The group took time to visit all exhibitions and pay their respects. Tori took part in the Last Post Ceremony for Lead Aircraftman Percival Leslie Sullivan who served Australia in the Second World War as he was remembered. On Sunday the 3rd February, the group worked with RSL Representative Peter William who led the group around Anzac Parade, speaking with them about the importance of each monument and what they all represent. Students concluded their visit with a trip to the Parliament House for a quick tour.
On the 13th February, Tori travelled to Hobart to partake in State Government Reception with the Honourable Guy Barnett Minister for Veteran Affairs. This dinner was held in the Premier’s Reception Lounge. This dinner was aimed at recognising the service of recently deployed Tasmanians and all Tasmanian veterans.
Tori attended with other student members of the Frank Mac Donald Memorial Prize.
Just a friendly reminder that if you have done a pre canteen order for your child and your child is not attending school that day or signs our be before Recess 2 on the day they have ordered lunch, could you please phone the School Office to cancel it for that day and state which day they would like it for.
Interested in playing basketball for the Dorset Eagles?
The Dorset Eagles are calling for names to play in the 2024 Launceston Basketball roster commencing April 29th - 20th of September (Term 2 and 3)
Players will be required to travel to Launceston to play, and train locally once a week.
We are calling for: Coaches Team Managers
U12 boys and girls
U14 boys and girls
U16 boys and girls
U18 boys and girls
Competition Game Nights will be as follows in Launceston
Monday Under 16 Boys Under 16 Girls
Tuesday Under 18 Boys Under 18 Girls
Wednesday Under 14 Girls
Friday Under 12 Boys Under 12 Girls Under 14 Boys
The cost will be approximately $350 per player to be paid before you can take the court.
Tops will be provided.
Names need to be in by February 28th.
If you have any questions feel free to send us an inbox on Facebook North East Junior Basketball or contact Rachelle Fish on 0427 361 807.
NOTICEBOARD