Dear Parents and Families,

Welcome to Term 1!

I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the year ahead at Scottsdale High School.

We would like to welcome our new families to Scottsdale High School and our Year 7 students for 2025.  We are very pleased with the way our Year 7 students have settled into the school year.  It is great to see so many of our Year 7-12 students applying themselves well to their learning.  Thank you to parents and carers for supporting your child as they commence the year and for ensuring students are in school uniform.  Students look terrific in their uniform and this helps to build a sense of belonging and connection for them whilst also promoting social equity and ensuring students are safe and easy to identify.  (Please ensure that your child is not wearing a non school hoodie to school.)  We continue to focus on students having a calm, learning environment with students set up for learning and engaging fully in their lessons. Teachers have focused on creating routines – which we call CPR – Consistent, Predictable Routines which help establish an orderly learning environment where positive working relationships are established.

Thank you to the non-teaching and administration staff who have also worked hard over the holidays to prepare our school for the start of a new year. There is certainly a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to get ready for our students’ return.

Welcome to new staff:

This year we warmly welcome the following new staff:

Miss Stingel – Year 7/8 English/HASS teacher and Year 7 HG teacher (full time).

Mrs Georgia Yaxley – Year 9/10 English/HASS teacher and Year 9 Home Group teacher (3 days a week).

Miss Laura Brumby – School Psychologist (Here every Wednesday and every second Monday).

Mrs Rachel Bowen – Teacher Assistant.

Ms Simone Langholz  - with us 2 days a week as our Student Wellbeing Officer.

Ms Lesley Bayles - Teacher Assistant (not pictured)

Welcome back to Ms Paige Howard our School Business Manager!  Many thanks to Mrs Nicole Smith for undertaking the role so well in 2024 whilst Ms Howard was on leave.

Values and School Expectations

Our school values guide how we need to work together as a learning community.  Scottsdale High School’s values align with DECYP values and are embedded in our ways of working, guide our interactions with others and we continue to celebrate the achievements of students who display our school’s values at whole school assemblies and sector assemblies.

We strive to think carefully about how these values are reflected in our ways of working.

Connection –building positive relationships and a sense of belonging.

Courage – accepting challenges and embracing opportunities.

Growth – aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it’s hard.

Respect – caring for ourselves, each other, and our environment.

Responsibility – stepping up and doing what’s right.

It is important that our whole school community aligns their actions towards our values. The values highlight the behaviours we expect to see from students, staff and our community. We keep each other accountable to these values and understand that our work in this area has helped us build a positive culture, based on high expectations These values are also reflected in our Expectations Matrix which our students are very familiar with:

OUR WHY

The Department for Education, Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan’s ‘Our Why’ is Bright lives. Positive futures. During our professional learning prior to students returning. staff across the school had time to reflect on the DECYP’s ‘Why’, link this to our school’s why and also consider their personal why/ vision for working with our young people. 

When we asked staff “What is your why?” it was very clear that Scottsdale High School staff are committed to caring for, supporting and educating our students so that they are set up to be responsible, committed citizens who can pursue study and/or career pathways that enable ongoing success and development.  

Some staff responses included:

• To help as much as I can in my role to assist others and learn from my peers as much as I can.
• Keeping areas clean and safe.
• To listen to others, help when needed, take care of others’ needs and property.
• To have a positive impact on young people and their futures. I loved school and all that it provided for me and this is my ‘why’ in giving back and helping ensure all students feel this way.
• To develop relationships with and engage students and help educate them in areas of interest.
• To support everyone to believe in themselves to be whatever it is they wish to be. To believe they are good enough regardless of where they are.
• Allow students to have the skills and knowledge to be able to take whichever pathway they want to in the future. To enable them not to have a barrier because they grew up in a small rural community.
• Show students that they can achieve success no matter their background or home life and that they matter and are important.
• To make a difference to people and improve their lives. To have purpose, achieve and success in my life and connect to others in achieving together.
• To see the ‘Aha’ moment when a student finally get something they have been struggling with.
• To have a positive impact on students’ choices, pathways and opportunities. To form relationships where students can revisit and ask for help.
• To be a person who is approachable and kind - where students can feel I'm a safe space for them to be who they are. I hope to inspire and broaden students’ minds beyond their blinkers to the wider world and think beyond limitations of boundaries that may be perceived to be upon or around them.
• To motivate students to be brave enough to have a go and inspire students to develop a sense of self confidence and responsibility for their own success and life outcomes.

We also asked some students what their ‘Why’ was for attending and engaging in school:

Year 11/ 12 students’ thoughts:

• To achieve my TCE and complete VET courses.
• To get my TCE and hangout with friends more.
• To learn new skills and develop the ability to find a career that best suits me.
• I came to Year 11/12 because I wanted to get my TCE and be able to progress further in my ASbA.
• To have a pathway to university study.

Year 9/ 10 students’ thoughts:

• I want to study subjects, especially Maths because it is such an important skill to have for my future and in the workplace.
• To catch up with my friends and I like learning.
• To build a positive future – set myself up for life.
• To get a proper education so I can have a successful career.
• To set myself up for a good future and have the skills needed to get ahead in life. To build positive relationships and lifelong friends.
• To spend time with my mates. To learn so I can have a better job when I finish school and earn good money.
• Mum makes me! To further grow my skills so I can get a good job as I’d like to be an electrician.
• It is something you do. School will set me up for success in the future as I’d like to be a nurse and care for people.

Year 7/8 students’ thoughts:

• To talk with my friends. I enjoy the electives and learn things that will help me in a job.
• To hang out with my friends and play basketball. I want to learn a bit more and get better skills that help me in the future
• Spending time with friends. Learn more especially in English and Maths.
• To see my friends. To learn and I enjoy science in the laboratory.
• We get to do options which I enjoy and these help us to find out if we may be interested in particular career pathways. We get to go to camp and learn survival skills.
• I feel school provides me with better prospects for jobs in the future and I feel happy being around other people.
• I’m here to learn so I can try out a range of jobs in the future and earn good money. I can learn social skills and be able to not live a lonely life in the future.

Coming through these responses is a clear desire for quality education and forming strong positive relationships. This is coupled with developing a sense of connection with peers and staff and being set up with the skills and attributes to have bright lives and positive futures.

School Association – 25 March 6.15pm AGM followed by Committere Meeting

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 AGM and Committee meeting for 2025 on Tuesday 25 March at 6:15pm in the Library. Nomination forms will be made available closer to the date.

A Block Toilet Upgrade

As part of DECYP’s Safer Student Bathrooms Program, our A Block Toilets upgrade is close to completion. The new toilet block is looking great. We are just waiting on some final touches and then the approvals to go through before the toilets can be opened for students to use.

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.
• Students are not permitted to use their online bank card in their Apple Pay wallet on their phone to pay at the Canteen. Students must bring a physical card, cash or use the Qkr! App.
• For further information please refer to the DECYP policy ‘Use of Mobile Phones by Students at School’.

Arrivals at School in the Morning

To ensure the safety and well-being of all students, we require students to come directly to school upon arrival. This is part of our duty of care. This will also help maintain a positive environment and uphold the reputation of our school community. Students are not to head to the shops or the Recreation Ground once they disembark the bus or are dropped at the school gate by their parent/carer.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in this matter.

Welcome BBQ– Whole School

Once again, we will have a whole school BBQ (sausage sizzle and veggie burgers) which will offer an informal way for you to meet with your child’s teachers and discuss their learning program for the year. This will be held on Monday 24^th February from 5:00pm – 6:30pm. By now, you should have received a copy of the letter invite for this evening. If you have any questions, please call the school office on 6352 6333.

Important Upcoming Dates for Term 1

We have a very busy term ahead. Please be aware of these dates:

Launceston Cup (Student Free Day) Wednesday 26th February

Whole School Assembly – SLB Induction Years 7 -10  Monday 3rd March 9.15am

Year 7 and 10 Immunisations – Friday 7th March

Aquatic Carnival – Tuesday 11th March

Whole School Photos Day Wednesday  March 12th 

NAPLAN Year 7 and 9 will be held from the 12th to the 24^thMarch

Year 7 Camp 19-21st March

NAPLAN 2025

Year 7 and 9 students will be sitting NAPLAN between 12 and 24 March. The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

Parent brochure is available on this link;  NAPLAN 2025 information for parents and carers (online)

Elizabeth Williams

Principal

Energy Drinks – not to be brought to or consumed at school

Students are not permitted to consume energy drinks or soft drinks at school.

As part of our Healthy Schools and Canteen, students should not be having energy drinks at school and are encouraged not to have them before school.

Julie, our School Nurse, has shared this poster with us to raise awareness of the effect energy drinks can have on our health.

Year 11/12 students have settled quickly to their 2025 studies and are engaged in a wide range of subjects  including VET, VLT and TASC courses.  This is a fantastic group who are working hard with their teachers to gain the skills and qualifications they need to pursue their career and education goals.

Liz Stanfield

11/12 AST

We are Beau and Lily, and we are the SLB President and Vice-President for 2025. On behalf of the SLB we would like to recognise the positive start every individual has made to the school year so far.  The SLB will be working hard to make this year a year to remember.

Firstly we would like to share a bit about ourselves.

My name is Beau, and I am the President of the SLB. I am very excited to take on this role this year and I can’t wait to see how this year unfolds. Ever since my role at Scottsdale Primary, I have aspired to become a leader at Scottsdale High. I am very proud to represent this school, which has some amazing and inspiring students. This year I hope I can make a positive and lasting impact on the school, so it continues to succeed in this year and following years to come. I love to try new things and take on as many possibilities as possible.

I enjoy playing a variety of different sports such as basketball, football, netball and swimming. Guitar is also an instrument that I enjoy playing. I love being outdoors camping, hiking or swimming at the beach. I also like hanging out with my friends as well as spending quality time with my family.

In or out of the classroom, I always try to be kind and trustworthy and set a good example to other students at the school. I set goals and aspire to be the best version of myself all the time. I encourage other peers to have a go and be approachable to anyone who seeks support. Commitment is a trait I pride myself on and I will strive to do my best in whatever I do. I hope this year is going to be a wonderful year for us all and I wish you all the best for 2025.

My name is Lily, although most of the time people call me Lil. I am the Vice-President of the SLB for 2025. My greatest enjoyments come from spending quality time with friends and family and playing netball. I am currently playing in the local netball competition with Central Swifts, which is like my second family. I am a very passionate and hard working person who is always striving to do my best and take on any challenges and have some fun. Ever since I became Vice President and won the L.V Jacques award in primary school I have always known I wanted to make a positive impact in my high school years. I have always strived to do my best and become the best version of myself. I am very proud of everything I have achieved throughout my years at school. I am someone who likes to keep busy so taking on this role is something that I am looking forward to. I am hoping to make a lasting impact on the school which will set me up for success in future years. Whether I am in school or out in the community, I will aim to set a positive example for my peers.

One thing   you probably don’t know about me, I have a pet Cocker Spaniel which is blind and deaf. I love to do Pilates and running in my spare time as well as shopping. Everyday I try to make the most of each day and push myself to reach my goals. I hope to apply this in my work at school to build a stronger and positive environment for everyone.

Beau and Lily