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Thank you to all members of our school community who have supported Scottsdale High School this term. Students have experienced a wide range of quality learning activities and participated in many extra-curricular events. I hope all students, families and staff enjoy the upcoming holidays and have a well-deserved break. Term 4 commences on Monday 16th October.
I will be taking Long Service Leave from Thursday 28th September to Friday 29th October. Mrs Fletcher will be Acting Principal whilst I am on leave.
Year 9 Mock Interviews
Year 9 Mock interviews have been going well with students receiving positive feedback from businesses. We are extremely grateful to all employers who took time out of their busy day to provide a mock interview to students. Students have received very positive and constructive feedback on their interview from the employer. Students have been commended on being very personable, being prepared for the interviews and asking good questions. Employers are noting confidence is a skill that the students could further develop and whilst many have been nervous at the start of the interview, they have gained confidence as the interview has progressed. Well done to all students who participate in the mock interviews, stepping out of their comfort zone and showing courage and resilience.
Here is some feedback that employers have given students – we have removed student’s names to maintain confidentiality:
“Well done for a first timer in a job interview. I can see that XX has put lots of effort into this interview.”
“It was a pleasure to interview XX.”
“XX is a friendly personable young lady who will achieve well as she gains confidence.”
"XX nerves were obvious to start but she relaxed as the interview progressed. She is a lovely young lady who will do well."
“XX projected himself very well and will achieve what he sets out to do. I congratulate him and wish him every success.”
“XX was friendly and confident in her interview. She lost her train of thought but quickly recovered herself to keep a calm mind and ask for her question to be re-asked and answered with confidence.”
“XX was very nervous during her interview, however she kept her composure and completed the interview in a very happy manner."
“The student answered all questions and asked questions himself. Overall, very well prepared for the interview”
"XX provided a great story idea when asked about an issue needing covering in the paper.”
“XX spoke well and maintained eye contact throughout the interview – Great job!"
“XX spoke really well with confidence and enthusiasm."
PAT Testing Weeks 2 - 4 Term 4
Students in Years 7-10 will be sitting the PAT (Progressive Achievement Test) for Reading and Numeracy in weeks 2 to 4 in Term 4. This testing which is done in Term 1 and again in Term 4 helps to show progress students have made in their learning throughout the year PAT.
Research also shows that successful learning is most likely when learning opportunities are tailored to individuals’ backgrounds, starting points and learning needs. The challenge in teaching is to understand and connect with learners’ current levels of attainment and readiness, and to identify appropriate next steps in learning.
The data from this testing helps teachers to understand where students are at in their learning. The data also helps to inform the teaching and learning through enabling teachers to set personal ’stretch’ targets with students, target our teaching and helps us to monitor the growth of students over time. Our aim is to see students experience a year’s growth in their reading and numeracy over the year.
Teachers will be talking to students about the purpose of this testing and encouraging students to do their best when sitting the tests so that we can obtain a true reflection of where each student is in their learning.
Parents/carers can assist by talking with your child about this testing and encouraging them to adopt positive mindset when sitting the test – taking the tests seriously, reading the questions carefully, answering questions to the best of one’s ability and completing all questions.
Netball Tasmania High School Cup Carnival
Well done to all students who participated in the Netball Tasmania High School Cup Carnival last week. It is great to see students representing the school with pride and enjoying friendly competition with other northern schools. Thanks to the following teachers, Mrs Fletcher, Mr Petterwood, Mrs Taylor and Miss Rainbow who accompanied the students and to Ella Stingel who umpired all four days of competition.
RYDA excursion
Each year our Year 10 students are invited to attend a RYDA session at Symmons Plains. This acronym stands for Rotary Youth Driver Awareness and is a road safety program facilitated by Rotary and other professionals. Although students may not be driving yet, staying safe on our roads as both drivers and passengers was the emphasis of the day. Presenters included Road Safety experts, driving instructors, police, people who had been in car accidents and survived and drug and alcohol educators. Students found this day to be very worthwhile and the program provides students with five hours of time towards their learner’s licence. Thank you to Miss Rainbow for organising and supervising this event.
Best wishes for a safe and relaxing holiday. We look forward to seeing students return ready to engage in their learning at the start of Term 4!
Elizabeth Williams
Principal
25 Years Cattle Handling Celebration
Kylie Rattray's address to attendees, that attended the 25 Year Cattle Handling Celebration gathering.
Distinguished guests, past and present cattle handlers, volunteers, and community members.
Thank you all for attending tonight’s celebration of this very special achievement – 25 years of the Scottsdale High School Cattle Handling program. Thank you also to those who attended the Open Day at the Stronach View campus today. It was great to see our 25th team of handlers demonstrating their skills and cattle.
Thank you to Ms Williams for her welcome tonight, and I would like to thank her for her overwhelming support of the cattle handling program, our students and our school farm.
Thank you to Mrs Deanna Scott for her recap of the first 10 years of the program and Mrs Bev Hanlon first Principal to support this program. Deanna was a leading light in this space and paved the way for our present program. I often remind our current Students just how lucky they are! When I started, we had a show box, a set of leather halters, bale string lead ropes and some golf clubs converted into show canes. And those white coats! Very impractical. There were no blowers, no clipping chutes, no clippers, no fancy stuff. Over the years, we have been able to build up our equipment through generous donations, winning prize money and hard work. The year we won the Grand Champion and the Reserve Grand Champion carcase at Sheffield, we bought our first cattle blower. This was a big deal. Chris Hall, then very generously donated our trailer, the envy of all schools and Alan Willis did the modification. Thank you for your generosity.
In 2020, we were fortunate enough to receive funds to upgrade our cattle yards to their current format. Prior to that, the farm board had made many improvements, again with the funds available and Farm Board volunteer input. This included The Lance Hall practice arena, new toilets and changerooms. Many of our early handlers would remember the old arena, if you could call it that; a temporary electric fence tape down on the grass in front of the classroom. It was a challenge with newly broken in cattle to keep them contained, at the same time, keep your footing. What a huge improvement our facilities have undertaken in the last 25 years and all for the benefit of our students. Thank you to anyone who has given time to these projects.
The first show team I coordinated back in 2009 was a team of 3 angus heifers from Quarterway Angus Stud. I can’t imagine that now, having broken in and shown teams of up to 24 cattle. These days we only show by the truckload.
Mr Lance Hall of Quarterway Angus was the first stud to entrust us with his valuable livestock. Mr Hall would call into the farm whenever he knew cattle handling training was on, and you could see the students spirits lift by his presence in the yards. He would always have his wooden stick at the ready, to give a heifer a good talking to if it played up. I still recall my first year of showing, and just prior to the Launceston show I must have overdone the grain feeding and the cattle got the runs. All Lance said was “Jesus girl, you’ve given them the shits”. We continued to show cattle for Quarterway up until around 2015 and thank the Hall family for their long-standing support of our program.
During my early years, our handlers were fortunate enough to be exposed to and show many different breeds from studs in the North East, including Dexter, Hereford, Galloway, Shorthorn, Santa Gertrudis, Murray Grey, Simmental, and who could forget the evil belted Galloway, Jessica, She became my show heifer – but only for 1 show!
Breaking in cattle for other breeders came with many challenges, you can imagine the shock for the animals when I would arrive at the farm and unload a bus load of students. There was one particular heifer that we only saw the once, as she jumped the yard fence, and headed west. We finally located her in George Street near Stoney’s after going via Northbourne. Needless to say, she was returned home. Deemed with an unsuitable temperament. However, each year we were able to turn out a beautiful well-trained team of cattle and handlers, with just a small few cattle that were returned to their breeder.
In 2013, I was finally able to convince the Farm Board at the time that we should start our own Angus Stud. I still recall the meeting, where I tabled my proposal, and was faced with negativity, it’s too expensive, there will be too much paperwork and how long are you staying for? 10 years on and it’s probably safe to say it was a good move.
That year we purchased our first stud cow, Quarterway Ellenor, and boy was she a handful. We tried to break her in, but failed and turned her out to produce some lovely offspring for our stud. And there our stud had began, Stronach View, aptly named after Mt Stronach which provided the beautiful backdrop for our school farm.
However, it wasn’t all fair sailing, things never are. Ellenor’s first bull calf was born with an ugly big birth mark and then shortly after injured his hip. The next year, we bought another Quarterway female at their sale, Frances. She was in calf, so Trevor generously offered to calve her down at Quarterway. All good, she had a heifer calf. Three months later, she dropped dead from grass tetany, and her calf, Jazz, fended for herself.
Time went by, and we slowly built up the Stud herd, purchasing further foundation females from Quarterway and Richmond Hill angus over the years. We currently have 24 registered stud females and sell around a dozen bulls each year to commercial farmers from the stud.
The establishment of Stronach View Angus stud has been a pivotal point for our program and students. The cattle are born here on farm and grow up with the students around. The students get to know the cattle from the start and the cattle get to know the Students. It’s a win, win.
I think back to my early years, where we would break the cattle like we were at the rodeo. Thank goodness, this is not necessary anymore. I will often talk to our new handlers about my first experiences when I started in the cattle handling program. I would take notice of what Mrs Scott was up to and wonder why she spent so much time “playing” with cattle. What was the point?
In 2009, I inherited the cattle handling reins, or leads in this case, after Deanna retired. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about the situation, but I accepted the challenge. I can still remember to this day, the afternoon when Chris Hall passed me a lead rope with an Angus Cow on the end of it and said “Hold this”. I nearly died of fright.
15 years on and I can’t imagine not doing it. My life is planned around the show season. I must pay tribute to the Late Mr Lance Hall, Chris Hall and Brian Medcraft for their mentoring early on in the program. Without your patience, expertise and support, I wouldn’t have developed the skills to continue on the program.
Cattle handling is not just big hats, flash boots and bling, it’s really hard work. You may have been fortunate enough to hear the ABC radio interview this week, where Adara and Ajana spoke. They said, “You just don’t show up on show day!” It takes weeks of preparation and practice to train your animal to be prepared for the show ring. Our handlers will begin preparing our cattle from the day they hit the ground, and even before that, as they are involved in our AI program and select potential sires for the cows in our stud herd. They are active throughout the whole breeding and growing process
Cattle handling is not for the faint hearted – it takes persistence, perseverance, dedication, patience, resilience, teamwork, and good old fashioned hard work. Its showing up week after week for training, even when you feel you’re not making any progress and you think you have the worst heifer in the team.
If you really think about it, Cattle Handling is just another team sport. You train lots and then compete. Making it to State Championships is the final.
Show day can be very stressful, washing, cleaning, and preparing your animal only for it to wipe snot over your freshly ironed clean shirt or you have done your very best to train your animal and she plays up a treat in the showring. At every show, we have tears and tantrums, mostly it’s the students, sometimes it might be me. This builds resilience and the ability to get back up and have another go.
In my mind, every handler who turns up to training each week and prepares their animal for the showring has already won a blue ribbon – this in itself shows their outstanding dedication and commitment. We have had students compete for many years and not win any ribbons in the showring, but just think of those skills they have gained along the way. We have students who join us for a season, and this is wonderful too, as they gain so many new skills and work as a team. They are our champions too.
This year, we had one of our handlers finally win the big prize one at a show – Champion Handler of the show. This is awarded to the best overall handler of the show regardless of their age. This handler has been participating in the program since Grade 3, when she tagged along with her older sister. Who I might add, was also an outstanding handler. We just couldn’t keep her away from the cattle. At her first show she sat for hours with our baby bull calf – Norfang, from there it all started, and 9 years later she won Champion. 9 Years – can you imagine how that must have felt, finally all that hard work had paid off. Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t take 9 years for her to be an amazing handler, there were just better handlers out there on the day, mostly older ones. When she finishes year 12 next year, she will have done 10 years of cattle handling with Scottsdale High School. What an achievement. This is just one of many similar stories over the 15 years and I’m sure Deanna could share the same. This is why we do it.
Over the years we have travelled around the State and had many great shows and some funny experiences. We’ve had handlers in water troughs while waiting to go in the show ring, our bulls play fighting and tearing the front off the stalls at Westbury, handlers who ‘loose’ their heifers at the show, and at one very memorable show, more vomit than a rough crossing on the Spirit of Tasmania. Team gastro, Chris, I know you can vouch for this one. We can laugh now.
These are the moments that we will remember forever.
This long-standing program, The Scottsdale High School Cattle Handling Program is what it is, as a result of a strong community that pulls together to support our young people and their future. Over 25 years, it’s been the generosity of the people, businesses and our cattle handling family, who have kept this program running. I would hate to begin to add up the volunteer hours that have supported it.
In closing, I would like to say a sincere congratulations to Deanna and the past handlers from 1999 – 2008. Congratulations, to the amazing cattle handlers from 2009 to our current team who are here tonight, who I have had the privilege of leading. They provide the inspiration, motivation and passion to continue. To our amazing volunteers and community, thank you for your support over the past 25 years and may the program continue well into the future.
Thank you
The Inaugural Tasmanian Merino Wether Challenge, organised by Midland Agricultural Association, The Stud Breeders Association of Tasmania and Australian Wool Innovation was held at Campbell Town Showgrounds this week, with 11 schools competing from across the state. Over the past six months students from Year 7-12 have been preparing six Merino Wethers kindly donated by Roger Bignell & Sons of Waterhouse for the competition. The preparation has involved breaking in the wethers to lead in the showring, as well as providing a suitable feeding plan and monitoring their health. During the course of the preparation, the students have had the fantastic opportunity to have two expert speakers come and visit the school farm to assist with the preparation of the sheep and share their expertise on the Merino breed. Andrew Calvert and Evelyn Archer, both industry experts were able to provide knowledge about the care of sheep, the value of the Merino breed and fleece and carcase qualities.
On the day, the sheep were assessed on their micron score and fleece length. Then went on to be shown in groups of three for breed characteristics. Shearing the sheep occurred on the day to determine the fleece yield and quality. At the conclusion of the competition, the sheep were consigned to Tasmanian Quality Meats at Cressy. The competition fleeces were purchased for processing by Tasmanian owned company, Wool Solutions.
Each team of three sheep were judged in three categories; On the Hoof Presentation, Carcase value and Fleece value.
On the hoof judging, or presentation judging took place in teams of three and was based on the evenness of the three sheep, wool quality and structure/confirmation of the animals.
To determine the carcase value ($), the sheep were weighed, scanned for fat cover and eye muscle depth. This data was then used to calculate a dollar value for each carcase.
The last judging was for fleece value ($), where each sheep were shorn on the day. The fleece was assessed for micron count, staple length, contamination and overall yield.
At the conclusion of the day, results were calculated for each of the three categories with Scottsdale Sheep B Team (Shakira, Molly, Maigen) being awarded 1st place in fleece value ($47.91) and Scottsdale Sheep A Team (A’jana, Nikayla, Adara) being awarded 3rd place in fleece value ($43.59). The sheep were placed 10th and 11th in the carcase value category. Scottsdale A team placed 4th in presentation category.
The Grand Champion Team of three sheep was determined by the aggregate of the points scored across the three judging categories and was won by Scottsdale High School Team B, with total points of 97.94. Scottsdale Team A placed second with 97.12 points.
Congrulations to our Merino sheep handling team on these exceptional results and a testament to the quality of merinos being produced in the North East. Thank you to all students who have assisted with the preparation of the sheep whilst at the farm in their Agriculture class.
This program has extended on the existing food and Fibre Agriculture Program at Scottsdale High School and provided another dimension to the agricultural enterprises and systems students are exposed to. The program has given the students with a real insight into the process of Merino wool production and possible career pathways in this industry.
A special Thank you to Roger Bignell and Sons, from Kananga Pastoral for supplying the sheep to Scottsdale High School for the competition.
Thank you to Locky West from AWI (Australian Wool Innovation) for organising this competition and congratulations on its success in the first year.
We thank those who assisted with the program; Liz Stanfield for accompanying the team, Keeley Lester from Winnaleah for providing student transport and Matthew Cassidy for transporting the sheep to the competition.
Students in Year 9 have had the opportunity to be part of Mock Interviews. Students were able to select which employer they would like to pursue a mock interview with. Students were then given practice within the classroom on how to conduct themselves within a mock interview, students as part of this process also constructed a resume and cover letter. As a school community we were fortunate to have a large number of local employers make themselves available to work with our students as part of this process. We are immensely grateful to local employers for working with the school on this event each year.
We congratulate all students for showing immense courage and aspiration in undertaking a mock interview.
Below are some comments from Year 9 about how they found the mock interview process.
Jamieson
I found being involved in the mock interviews a valuable and learning experience because I was able to have the opportunity to converse with an employer and present why I would be a valuable employee. I was able to think about how I would dress for the occasion. I was surprised when the employer asked the question "how would I contribute to a team"?
Thomas
My mock interview was an excellent experience because I was able to learn about how safety works in the workplace. I understand this is a fundamental skill I needed to have knowledge on. This opportunity was a chance to really think about what skills I could bring to an employer and how I would need to discuss my personal attributes when applying for a job.
Miki
I found this opportunity to be really good as I was able to learn about the diverse range of jobs that were available. I was able to discuss apprenticeships and traineeships. I was able to explain to the employer how I was able to work as a member of a team and get a feel for what the working environment would be like if I was to apply formally at this business.
Tom
I found the mock interview to be a really good process because they asked me a series of professional questions which gave me the opportunity to express who I was and what personal attributes I could bring to the workforce.
Hayden
I found the interview process really positive. It was nice to be asked lots of question and the business owner was friendly and easy to converse with. This helped me to feel more confident in expressing myself.
Alex A
I found the interview questions to be quiet challenging and not what I had anticipated. However the manager was able to guide me through these questions in able to articulate myself. The interviewer was able to vary the way he conversed so I knew what was required of me.
On Wednesday we loaded the trailer and piled onto the bus and set off on our Year Eight camp. Our first stop was the Tebrakunna Visitor Centre at the Musselroe Wind Farm where we read and learned about the local cultural history of the area. Shortly, after we made our way to a beach where we were able to hang out with our friends for a while before heading to our camp site at Petal Point. When we got to our camp site we set our tents up for both nights and unpacked our bags. We quickly got changed to go down to the beach again, this time we were able to swim and play beach games. After spending some time on the beach we went back to camp and got ready for dinner. We cooked ourselves spaghetti bolognese prepared by the 9/10 academy on a trangia. After dinner we washed up our dishes and talked around the campfire until bed time.
We started our second day with breakfast around the campfire before getting ready for the days activities.
We hopped on the bus take us to the bottom of Mt Cameron where we would then hike to 'The Mount Cameron Maze'. There were a lot of steep hills and lots of complaining, but when we reached 'The Maze' everyone had lots of fun exploring the maze. The hike back down was a lot quicker and easier. When we got back to bottom we chilled for a while before heading back to Petal Point, where we then went back to the beach for another swim.
Soon it was dinner time, we cooked chicken burgers and sausages on the trangias for dinner. Once the washing up was done, we got changed and roasted mash-mellows around the campfire and talked with each other until it was time for bed.
We had an early start to our third day, starting with breakfast then shortly after we packed our bags, took down the tents and packed them away into the trailer. After we packed away our stuff we headed down to the beach one last time for a beach walk. While we were there, we held a competition to see who could make the highest and the most stable rock cairns, the reward was a packet of snakes. David’s group were announced the winners and we walked back to our campsite to have lunch. After lunch and a short rest we piled back on to the bus towards school.
Overall the Year Eight Camp was an amazing experience and we would like to thank Mr Le Ferve, Mr Tyson, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Crack, Miss Walker and Miss Brown for making it happen.
Savanna B and Aaron R
Our 7-10 Girls and Boys teams have been busy competing in the HART SPORT High School Netball Championships. Students have displayed immense athleticism and competitiveness. Well done to all students for their efforts in representing Scottsdale High and Winnaleah District High. Thank you to coaches Ethan Petterwood 7-8 Boys , Christine Taylor 7-8 Girls, Belinda Fletcher 9-10 Girls, Sherri Rainbow 9-10 Boys, and Lucy Partridge from WDHS and Ella Stingle for umpiring over the 4 days of competition.
On Sunday 10th September, two Year 7 students represented Scottsdale High School at the Paul Coulson Memorial Gymkhana held at the Westbury Showgrounds. Eliza riding Hazel and Layla riding Lacey were placed 3rd in the pair of Hacks and both girls rode personal best show jumping rounds.
Both Layla and Eliza are part of the Pony Club Tetrathlon team, representing Tasmania in Perth, WA over the school holidays. The tetrathlon is an event which consists of a show jumping round, running, swimming and laser pistol shooting. Layla will do a 75cm show jump round, run 1km, swim 100m and pistol shoot from 7m using 2 hands. Eliza will do an 85 cm show jump round, run 2 km, swim 200m and pistol shoot from 10m using 1 hand. Due to the distances involved, the show jumping rounds took place on Sunday the 17th September at Faulkner Park in Launceston. The scores from this event will be carried over and added to the remaining elements once completed. We wish Eliza and Layla the very best of luck for their competition and safe travels as they depart for Western Australia on Saturday.
OPENING OF LIONS CLUB OF BRIDPORT HALF-COURT BASKETBALL COURT
Lions Club of Bridport extends an invitation to all our NE Community/ Families to join us for the Official Opening of our Half-Court Basketball Court on Saturday, 7th October at 4.00 p.m. – on the Foreshore (Near Bridport Surf Life Saving Clubrooms).
Members of our Lions Club of Bridport will organise a BBQ and we will work closely with our local basketball coaches to organise some fun basketball activities to encourage participation from our younger community members and Tornadoes Basketball Club at the opening.
We would like to sincerely thank the following organisations who greatly assisted with funding to complete our Half-Court Basketball Court:
- Dorset Council
- Bridport Innovations
- Tasmanian Lions Foundation
- Australian Lions Foundation
- FC Management (Mathew and Shannon Bayles)
- PJ & LA Bingley Builders Pty Ltd
Come along to this fun family event and support Lions Club of Bridport.
Enquiries please phone:
- Ann Maree 0409 918 068
- Leonie 0438 281 352
NOTICEBOARD