Dear families

Another productive and busy term has ended and I would like to thank all our students, staff and families for their work and support. It is rewarding to see so many students engaged in their learning and teachers delivering quality, engaging tasks that set students up to be successful learners. As I move around the school, it is great to hear our students talking about their learning and seeing the pride they are taking in their progress across a range of learning areas. Our focus on fluency strategies throughout the year is exciting work occurring and research shows that over time, this will lead to improvement in students’ reading and comprehension skills.

It was a pleasure too for our whole school to come together today to celebrate student achievement and the work done this term. Congratulations to all students in Years 7-12 who received awards; thank you to parents and carers for supporting these events and to our staff for making them happen.

We offer many great programs and learning opportunities at Scottsdale High and have a dedicated and committed staff. We are fortunate to offer an amazing Agricultural program at Scottsdale High with many students going on to pursue pathways and careers in the agricultural sector. I would like to acknowledge Ms Kylie Rattray who was recognised by the Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network for 25 years of service to Agriculture Education on Friday 20 June. Well done Kylie and thank you for your leadership in teaching and delivering agriculture education including cattle handling.

Maternity Leave – Mel Petterwood and Simone Langholz

Mel Petterwood, School Social Worker, and Simone Langholz, Student Wellbeing Officer, are taking maternity leave starting at the beginning of Term 3. Thank you to Mel and Simone for all their work supporting our students. We wish Mel and Simone all the very best for the arrival of their babies and the exciting times to come!

Parent Teacher Interviews Term 2

I would like to extend my gratitude to all the parents who attended our recent Parent-Teacher meetings. The teachers were delighted with the strong turnout and the quality of discussions regarding student progress and future goals. Your support in helping your child achieve their learning objectives is greatly appreciated. These meetings are a wonderful opportunity to provide feedback to families and students and to celebrate their growth.

Big Freeze MND Fundraiser

A heartfelt thankyou to our school community for their support of our SLB students with the Big Freeze Fundraiser for MND which was held on Friday 13 June. Our SLB students did a wonderful job organising this fundraiser and thanks to the students who volunteered for the ice bucket challenge. Over $1500 was raised for this worthy cause. Not only have the SLB raised awareness of MND, students have been encouraged to reflect during the year on the example Neale Daniher set for our students about life not being fair and how to make the best of challenging situations. Daniher emphasizes the importance of bouncing back from setbacks. He advocates for a growth mindset, where setbacks are seen as opportunities for growth. This mindset encourages students to reframe difficulties and take responsibility for their actions. Daniher's journey shows the importance of taking responsibility and not blaming others for life's challenges. He encourages us all to summon inner strength and rise above adversity.

Transition From Year 10 to 11

Our Year 10 students have commenced planning for their transition to Year 11. Visits from both Launceston and Newstead Colleges occurred earlier in the term and Year 10 students recently attended Newstead College and Launceston College open days as well as learning about Year 11/12 at Scottsdale High School. There are several options available for students including a shared enrolment with Scottsdale High and one of the colleges. Additionally, apprenticeships, school-based apprenticeships, traineeships, and other training opportunities are options that students may consider for their future.

Mock Interviews Year 9s

Year 9s certainly reflected the values of connection, courage, growth, and respect as they participated in their mock interviews last week. Our students are to be commended on the excellent feedback they received. This is certainly not possible without the strong support of business and industry members who so generously gave of their time and were extremely supportive and encouraging with our Year 9s.

We extend our gratitude to:

Jade Abraham – Dorset Council

Naomi Buster – Dorset Community House

Kate Brill – Dorset Employment Connect

Maria Branch – B and M Branch

Sam Fletcher – Community Representative

David Galloway – Becks Mitre 10

Stephanie Hill – Dorset Council

Cath Kilner – Linc Tasmania

Mandy McKay – May Shaw

Peter Roebuck – Willowlodge BnB

Kerry Sacilotto – Dorset Council

Candice Walker – Looking Great Beauty Salon

Thank you also to Mrs Fletcher for all her work in co-ordinating the mock interviews.

School Association: Thank you Mrs Wendy Timperon

Next Meeting Tuesday 29 July 6.15pm

A heartfelt thank you to Mrs Wendy Timperon who has served on our School Association for eight years as Chairperson. Mrs Timperon’s leadership has been greatly valued and she has been an outstanding advocate for Scottsdale High and public education across the state.  Mrs Timperon has dedicated many hours to the Chairperson role and her in-depth of knowledge and expertise in leading a School Association Committee has been an asset for our School Association.

Our next School Association meeting is on Tuesday 29 July at 6.15pm in the Library. These meetings are a great opportunity for parents/carers to become involved in decision making and building a partnership with the school. We welcome you to join us for the meeting. Thanks to the following parents and community members who have taken on roles for our 2025 School Association Committee:

President – Candice Walker

Vice President – Alison Mooney

Secretary – Rebecca Lancaster

Treasurer – Paige Howard

Kylie Rattray - Staff Representative

Tamieka Johnson - Parent Representative

Kym Lette - Parent Representative

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable Term 2 holiday break.

Elizabeth Williams

Principal

This term was an especially busy term for our Student Leadership Board. Between running events to gathering data for feedback on our school environment to celebrating student successes on our bulletin board, the SLB always had something to work on.

Our first event for the term, was Do It For Dolly Day on the 9th of May. Dolly’s Dream, the foundation behind the event, are committed to changing the culture of bullying through raising awareness of the devastating impact bullying can have on an individual. The main activity was a information and trivia session in the PAC which focussed on the topic of bullying and being an upstander not just a bystander. It was really good to see students from Year 7 all the way through to Year 10 participate, taking the first steps towards changing the culture of bullying through education. A Dress in Blue Day along with a best dressed at recess 2 supplemented our trivia session. From our gold coin donations, we managed to raise a total of $215 for the cause.

Following Do it for Dolly Day, we began planning and advertising our very own Big Freeze held on the 13th June to raise money and awareness for MND, which is a disease that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord affecting communication in the body. For this event we hosted an Ice Bucket Challenge and dress up as your favourite character or in blue with a gold coin donation. For the Ice Bucket Challenge each class nominated a homegroup representative to be dunked and if they reached their target donation amount, they would be dunked. The SLB held a BBQ for students to enjoy while watching the main event of the Big Freeze. As a school community, we managed to raise over $1500 for the cause and we are very proud of our school’s efforts and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped us in our fundraising.

In the middle of the term we ran a Student Voice Survey about possible improvements to our school and every student was given the opportunity to participate in this survey. We are in the process of collating the results that we have received from our fellow peers and working closely with the school association to see which changes would be feasible for our school community. So keep an eye out for more news in this space.

To round off our events for the term, we asked our fellow school mates to brave the cold and don shorts on the Friday 20th June in conjunction with Speak Up Stay ChatTY’s shorts day. Speak Up Stay Chatty is an organisation that aims to promote positive mental health and suicide prevention. We encouraged students to check in with each other and brave a conversation about mental health the same way they braved the cold as speaking about mental health can be an uncomfortable topic for some. It was really good to see so many of us pull on our shorts in support of the day, reinforcing the importance of positive mental health and we hope that you continually check in with those around you through the highs and lows.

Looking forward to next term, we already have a few plans in the works with the first being National Daffodil Day. National Daffodil Day is an initiative run by the Cancer Council and it is their most loved and iconic fundraising campaign. The money we raise from this day will go towards people impacted by cancer and cancer research. We have so many near and dear who are impacted by cancer and we look forward to being able to contribute to such a meaningful cause. More details about the day will be available soon but this is something to look out for.

I speak on behalf of my SLB members when I say we are looking forward to bringing you more events throughout the year so stay tuned to see what we are up to. You can check out our bulletin board through the PAC windows to stay updated with what is happening. Your SLB members are also committed to making the school a better place for you so do not hesitate to speak to us about changes and we will see if we can assist in any way.

Thank you and I wish everyone a safe and restful holiday after a great effort this term!

On Monday we commenced celebrating NAIDOC Week - a week earlier than scheduled due to school holidays beginning next week. Well done to students Involved in our flag raising ceremony led by Daniel and to Sam and Lily who shared a short speech.

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

The 2025 theme, "The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy," celebrates not only the achievements of the past but the bright future ahead, empowered by the strength of our young leaders, the vision of our communities, and the legacy of our ancestors.

NAIDOC WEEK - check out this excellent display created by Year 10 students as they explored this year’s theme with Ms Yaxley and Ms Simmons.

NAIDOC Week celebrations continue- thanks to Hospitality Academy for bush tucker food to sample at lunchtime today. Damper, kangaroo curry, wallaby sausage rolls and lemon myrtle biscuits on the menu!

Well done to our Year 9 students who participated in mock interviews last week demonstrating a growth mindset by embracing a challenge and developing their confidence. We are extremely grateful to our interviewers for giving of their time and expertise as well as being so supportive of our students. Students received great feedback. It’s a joy to see our students thriving!

On the 13^th of May, 12 students headed out to start their Year 10 Survival Camp. On departure, students were divided into two teams for the duration of the camp, where they were required to complete various challenges.

 The first stop was the Mount Cameron Field Study Centre to drop off supplies before beginning our first day of the survival section. We were dropped in an unknown location and were required to locate various supplies that would be crucial to our survival over the coming days.

It was time to start our adventure, we had to navigate, and bush bash our way to our first campsite. Over hills, dried out wet areas and thick shrub using a compass and map. At campsite number one, we got a briefing on the site and started setting up camp for the evening.

 Once we had built our shelters, it was time for our first challenge! This was to start a fire and boil a billycan of water using a flint and steel. One team completed this easily, with the other group struggling. The winning team was rewarded for their efforts with additional supplies.  

The rest of the night was spent around the fire talking, bonding, and having a laugh while rationing our homemade survival bars. We headed off to our shelters with hope for a solid night’s sleep but unfortunately, we spent a large amount of time sliding down the hill then waking up and scooting back up to comfort.

We woke with the sun, and it was time to start day 2. We slowly rose and sat around the fire looking like ghosts after a restless night. Mr Le Fevre noticed we were lacking in energy and set us up for a game of Cha, Kar, Rah to lift our mood.

We started the walk on a road before cutting into the bush for some more bush bashing, this led us to a dried-out swamp. Mr Le Fevre said that this was the driest he has seen it, we got a photo on one of the trees before continuing. The dry track soon turned to squishy mud, some students went knee deep in mud and almost slipped over.

It was decided that it would be best to cut up into the bush before coming out on the other side. We stopped for a rest at the dam before we faced another challenge. We had to pump up an inflatable boat and row across to the other side with all our belongings.

Eli and Jake started the challenge but halfway across the lake the boat started to sink. This is when they realised that there was a small puncture in the boat. It was decided to call this challenge off for safety reasons.

 Instead, we did a team verse team challenge, the whole team was blindfolded apart for one person. You had to navigate down a track with our team winning once again. At the end of this challenge, we continued walking until our next challenge. Each team had to build a stretcher and carry equipment. The other team went for a somewhat sturdy but heavy set up, with our team going for sturdy but light.

We walked along a track which led to our second campsite. At the campsite we set up our shelters and had a fire, watching for leaches as this area was known for the slimy critters. The night was once again spent chatting by the fire, reflecting on the days adventures and having a laugh.

We were a bit slower waking for Day 3, the morning was fresh and our bodies sore. Before packing up and setting off on our final walk of the survival section back to the Field Study Centre, there was a race to the showers, our stash of proper food and fresh clothing.

We drove to Eddystone Point to do a solo beach walk. This required us to walk individually along a long stretch of beach and reflect on our Year 10 Survival Camp and life in general. This was followed by a gratitude circle, where we shared something positive and something we were appreciative of.

We walked back as a group and enjoyed some lunch on the beautiful beach and free time. It was a quiet bus ride to the Field Study Centre with many taking the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

Once back we had some downtime, which included board games and chats. Before dinner we set out to complete the ‘spider web’ obstacle. This was a good team building task with positive connections and trust being involved. We then cooked a well-deserved dinner on Trangias, before cleaning up and finishing our board games.

To finish the evening, we watched our survival camp video which Miss Walker had put together and ‘The Lorax Project’ which was a documentary set in the Tasmanian wilderness. It was then time for bed. The girls were a little chattier than the boys but after a few laughs we set in for a solid sleep in a proper bed.

Our last morning, we packed, cleaned up and headed down to do some more team building activities to help build our communication and strength these included: The See Saw, The Wall and Cattle Grid. Our last activity for the week was the Beach Olympics.  Once again, we battled it out in our teams for the title. Unfortunately, it was a tie at the end of the challenge series.

We would like to give a huge thanks to Miss Walker, Mrs Tuffin and Mr Le Fevre for putting in the time and effort to make this camp happen. We will all remember this experience for years to come.

By Lily W and Savannah B

A highlight of each Term has become our Breakfast of Champions. It was a joy to see so many students and staff join together to start the day with a delicious breakfast. Lots of students’ smiles to start the day on a very positive note! Thanks so much to all the staff who prepared and served the breakfast feast– hash browns, eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, toast, yogurt and fruit! We are very grateful to the Variety School Breakfast Club for sponsoring our school to provide breakfast each day and to Scottsdale IGA for their generous donation of food.

Many thanks to Laurence and Rickie from PROJECT ROCKIT who lead workshops with Years 7, 8 and 9. They shared great messages and tips about using social media and online platforms and encouraged students to be part of the solution, not the problem.

PLA students have worked on their own choice focus for study in their Academy lessons, here are some of the results, Aquaponics, Child related issues, Street Art and so much more.  A wonderful group of students to work alongside.

Students shared their work and gave in-depth insights into their work.