We welcomed Mrs Robekah McDougall back to Scottsdale High School last week from maternity leave. Mrs McDougall will be taking Miss Jones Maths classes when Miss Jones goes on long service leave in Term 4. Mrs McDougall is assisting with relief this term and enjoying getting reacquainted with students in Years 8-12 and meeting a number of our Year 7 students.
Congratulations to Tori in Year 9 who has been shortlisted for the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize! We wish Tori all the best in the next steps in this process.
External School Review – Commendations and Affirmations
Scottsdale High School’s School Review took place over three days – Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th September – with one External School Review Leader (Brett Manion) and two Principal Peer Reviewers (Danielle Bresnehan and Joel Doyle).
The leadership team presented to the panel on day one. Teachers were interviewed, along with non-teaching staff, families, and members of the School Association. The panel visited most classrooms and learning spaces, and met with student groups from across the school, both formally during interviews and informally in the classroom setting. Thanks to all students, parents and staff involved in the process. The Review Team wrote commendations and recommendations for the school community to celebrate and enact the next four years of school improvement. The team highlighted that there is a lot to celebrate. The following commendations and affirmations were made about Scottsdale High:
Commendations:
- The strong community connections and partnerships.
- The high levels of care and commitment to meeting the needs of all students.
- The high levels of collegiality among all staff.
- The range and quality of opportunities offered to students.
- The success of the 11/12 program in providing pathways for students to employment and further study.
- The high level of support from staff and leadership reported by parents.
- The maintenance and presentation of the grounds and facilities.
Affirmations:
- The focus on developing a high expectations learning environment.
- The clearly documented guidelines for schoolwide approaches to supporting student wellbeing and engagement.
- The range of curriculum options provided to promote student engagement.
- The development of an instructional model and a focus on improving the teaching of reading.
- The focus on providing opportunities for staff to come together and work collaboratively.
- The early work on implementing collaborative inquiry as an improvement process.
- The focus on building data literacy in whole school data sets.
- The professional learning plan for teachers and school leaders linked to school improvement priorities.
From our three lines of inquiry, the Panel shared recommendations for our work to be undertaken over the next four years. We continue to establish a focus on learning. As a team at Scottsdale High we are committed to continuous improvement and improving outcomes for students. We will share the recommendations with you as we start to unpack and implement these over the next term and into next year.
25 Years of Cattle Handling Celebration – Saturday 16 September 12pm – 2pm School Farm
Tomorrow we celebrate 25 years of Cattle Handling at Scottsdale High School. The Farm is open from 12-pm – 2pm with a BBQ and there will be a celebration at Lords Hotel in the evening to mark this special occasion.
Two of our Year 11 cattle handlers, A’jarna and Adara, along with Ms Rattray, Mr Philip Partridge and Mr Trevor Hall, gave a great insight into cattle handling at Scottsdale High and the benefits of being involved in the program when they were interviewed by Larissa Smith, ABC Country Hour. You can listen to the informative interview here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/tas-country-hour/bull-handling/102839284
Many thanks to Kylie Rattray for co-ordinating this program since 2009 and for all her work in organising the celebrations. I would also like to recognise Deanna Scott, a former staff member who was instrumental in setting up the program in 1999 and running it until 2008 and former Principal Bev Hanlon. Well done to all students, past and present, who have availed themselves of this wonderful opportunity. Thanks to all members of our community who have supported the Cattle Handling Program over the last 25 years.
We look forward to celebrating this program over the weekend and hope you can join us for the open day visit on the farm from 12pm – 2pm on 16 September.
Reminder Scottsdale High School Satisfaction Survey 2023 – Invitation
Every year the Department for Education, Children and Young People conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your school does well and where it may improve.
We would be grateful if you could complete our online survey about Scottsdale High School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school-planning and decision-making.
The survey is open from Monday, 28th August 2023 until Friday, 22nd September 2023 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.
The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.
All families in this school will receive the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any DECYP staff.
Please contact us if you require any assistance.
Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.
Elizabeth Williams
Principal
Vaping is similar to smoking cigarettes, but instead of burning tobacco it heats a liquid.
Are you a parent or carer worried about young people vaping? Or a young person wanting information or trying to cut back?
Here you can find resources and support at this link:
Vaping - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)
Key facts
- Vaping is not better for you than smoking.
- Vape aerosol is not water vapour. It has a lot of harmful ingredients.
- Most vapes contain addictive nicotine – and are often wrongly labelled as nicotine-free.
- For a young person, nicotine addiction can make it harder to concentrate and learn.
- Support is available to help you quit/reduce your usage and to help you deal with peer pressure.
- Tasmanian schools are designated smoke and vape free sites.
- Vapes can come in many shapes and sizes.
- If you are a teacher, parent or carer, there are lots of free resources to support you to talk to young people about vaping.