We hope you all had a wonderful Easter enjoying time with family/friends and the great weather.  This term has certainly flown by quickly and has been extremely busy for both students and teachers. Term 1 has focused on students developing relationships with their peers and teachers, establishing learning routines and developing an understanding of what teaching and learning looks like at Scottsdale High School. 

Year 7 Camp

Our Year 7 Camp, held at Camp Banksia in Port Sorell just prior to Easter, was very successful. Many thanks to Mr Le Fevre, Miss Walker, Mr Tyson, Mr Wootton and Mrs Crack for accompanying our students and planning such a terrific camp for our students.  Feedback from students about the camp was extremely positive with students enjoying the fantastic facilities, fun activities and delicious and plentiful food!  It was great to see students returning to school looking tired but with big smiles after a fun-filled camp where positive relationships were fostered. Many thanks to staff who assisted back at school.  We are very fortunate that we have staff members who are willing to give of their time and expertise to offer a camp program to our students as in many schools, this opportunity is not available.

World’s Greatest Shave

Wow – a target of $600 was set for fundraising and we raised S2872.00! Well done to our Student Leadership Board on running a successful World’s Greatest Shave on Thursday 4th April, funds raised go to the Leukemia Foundation to help fund research in to fighting blood cancer.  The following students, along with Miss Juraimi, are to be commended for their fundraising efforts by either having their head shaved or coloured: Tori, Will, Tara, Aliqua, Deagan, Lochlan, Sophie, Eliza, James, Noah, Tom, Matthew, Preston and Malakye.  Many thanks to Ange and Karen who gave their time to shave, cut and colour the participant’s hair.   We are very grateful to our community for all the donations. 

Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize – Study Tour for Tori and Miss Rainbow

We wish Tori and Miss Rainbow a safe and a wonderful time as they travel to Europe as part of Tasmanian contingent for the 2024 Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize.  They fly out on Saturday 13th April. They will spend Anzac Day attending the Villers Bretonneux Service in Belgium on the Western Front. In the lead up to Anzac Day, the study tour will visit many significant locations including Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony; Pozieres, Fromelles and Hill 60. As part of the trip, both Tori and Miss Rainbow have been required to research a soldier who fought on the Western Front during WW1 and pay tribute to their life through a personal pilgrimage.  Tori will pay tribute to David Royden Seymour Howell, her great uncle at Mericourt-L'Abbe Communal Cemetery on the Somme. Miss Rainbow has researched two family members – Albert and John (Jack) William Walker. By researching her Great Grandfather Jack Walker (a previous resident of Branxholm) she discovered his younger brother Albert Walker followed him to war.

We look forward to sharing Tori and Miss Rainbow’s research next term with you and to hearing about their experiences as part of this prestigious prize.

Literacy/ Reading : MacqLit Program

NAPLAN for Years 7 and 9 has now ended.  Thank you to Mrs Danielle Butler for coordinating the process and for the positive attitude and effort given by so many of our students. 

Reading and literacy continues to be a high priority for our work at Scottsdale High School. Our teachers are working with a strong focus on implementing the DECYP reading priority by ensuring that instruction for all students is reflective of current research and evidence-based practices.

A program that supports the development of students’ literacy skills is MacqLit.  The MacqLit is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of students and includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In 2024, Scottsdale High School is again resourcing MacqLit for both Year 7 and 8 students. The program is coordinated by Mrs Dannielle Butler, our Quality Teaching and Learning Coach, and is supported by several of our Teacher Assistants.  Our 2023 data from this program demonstrated that students with high attendance and commitment to the program achieved some very strong gains in their literacy.

 School Association Update

The annual AGM and Committee Meeting was held on Tuesday 26th March. Congratulations to the following new and returning School Association members for their successful nomination to the 2024 School Association Committee.

• Candice Wood (Chair and Parent Representative)
• Candice Walker (Vice President and Community Representative)
• Wendy Timperon (Secretary and Parent Representative)
• Nicole Smith (Treasurer and Staff Representative)
• Tamieka Johnson (Parent Representative)
• Helen Oliver (Parent Representative)
• Kym Lette (Parent Representative)
• Kylie Rattray (Staff Representative)
• Sherri Rainbow (Staff Representative)
• Elizabeth Williams (Principal)

It is fantastic to welcome some new parent and community representatives to the school association committee! We look forward to sharing school association news and events with parents and families through coming newsletters.

Many thanks to outgoing President, Wendy Timperon, for her committed and valued leadership of the School Association over a number of years.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 7th May at 6.15pm in the school’s Library.

Uniform

Thank you to parents and carers who support their child to wear the correct uniform to school. It is great to see students wearing their uniform with pride!  As the mornings get cooler, just a reminder that plain black, long sleeved hoodless shirts may be worn under the school polo.

We do appreciate students continuing to wear uniform, including the school jackets/hoodies rather than non-school hoodies. Many workplaces have a dress code and by adhering to one at school, students then find it easier to transition to workplace expectations.  If you need support with your child’s uniform, you can talk to your child’s teacher or assistant principal to discuss your family’s eligibility for support or assistance in the purchase of school uniforms.

Newsletter frequency

In discussion with our School Association, we will now be publishing our newsletter 3 to 4 times a term (rather than fortnightly) , with newsletters being published every 3 weeks.  A lot of information is communicated regularly through SchoolStream and Facebook and this will be supplemented by our newsletter which will be available through our online platforms and on Facebook so you can keep up to date with what is occurring in our school.

Term 1 Holidays/Anzac Day Services

We wish our students a relaxing and safe holiday.  Term 2 commences on Monday 29 April. Our Student Leaders will be representing the school at the Anzac Day services being held across the North East and we invite students and families to join us to commemorate Anzac Day 2024.

Elizabeth Williams

Principal