Dear families

It is hard to believe we are in June already! As the weather becomes colder and days shorter, I have been reminding students about staying focused on their learning, making everyday count so they can experience good progress throughout the year.

As part of DECYP’s Lifting Literacy, all schools across Tasmania are introducing a structured and evidence-based approach to teaching reading. Part of this work includes the explicit teaching of fluency with students in Years 7 to 10 at Scottsdale High School. With the overarching goal of improving student reading across the board, we have implemented fluency practice into our daily routine. Fluency is the critical bridge between word recognition and comprehension. You can see our Year 7 students discussing fluency practice on a short video you can  access using the QR code or visiting our FB page. We have included information about fluency in a separate section in this newsletter for you to read.

We have also been reminding students of our Scottsdale High School expectations and the importance of being kind and considerate in their interactions with students, staff and community members.   At our sector assemblies, I have been reminding students about the Scottsdale Way – when we walk through the gate we are respectful, safe, build relationships and we are learners. Respect is a key value and expectation. Respectful behaviour is essential for developing and sustaining a positive school environment and relationships.

It was wonderful to see a positive, supportive atmosphere at our recent Cross Country Carnival held at the Bridport Foreshore. Respect was certainly evident at our Carnival. We really are fortunate that we can run this carnival in such a beautiful location and the weather was perfect for us. Well done to all participants and students who gained placings; it was fabulous to see the encouragement students had for one another. Well done to Minstone who were the victors on 105 points. Stronach came in second on 64 points and Ellesmere third on 46 points. We had 30 students qualify for the Interhigh Cross Country and these students are to be commended on their excellent sportsmanship and way they represented Scottsdale High. Well done to Zeke in Year 8 who placed second in his race. Zeke joins Lotti (Year 8) and James and Declan (Year 9) who qualified for the State Carnival which will be held at Symmons Plains on Thursday 12 June.

Congratulations to our 2025 Cross Country champions and runner ups:

Project Rocket Workshops for Years 7,8 and 9 on Wednesday 11 June.

Through partnering with the Telstra Foundation, PROJECT ROCKIT are visiting Tasmania and Scottsdale High is one of the schools selected for the workshops for students in Year 7, 8 and 9.

PROJECT ROCKIT is Australia’s youth-driven movement against (cyber)bullying, hate, and prejudice. Since 2006, they have delivered our signature evidence-based, youth-led workshops to schools across the country.

PROJECT ROCKIT Foundation offers priority support to schools facing socio-economic and geographic access barriers. They believe that when it comes to wellbeing, no student should be left behind.

Our students will participate in the CONNECT workshop which explores the positive potential of technology, upskilling students with online skills to build connected communities, support wellbeing and navigate harmful experiences.

The big idea: “Every choice you make online has an impact, so the impact you make is up to you."

Learning outcomes for this workshop are:
1. Students have explored actions to support their mental health online, including healthy relationships, mindful consumption, critical thinking, help-seeking behaviours.

2. Students have grown empathy for those targeted by online hate and skills to support peers through tough times.
3. Students are equipped with strategies to navigate harmful online experiences including image-based abuse, deceptive behaviour and (cyber)bullying.

PROJECT ROCKIT is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider.

The workshops are youth-driven and evidence-based, with all learning outcomes aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

The workshops will be held in the PAC:

Year 9 – 9am – 10.20am
Year 8 – 10.40 – 12pm
Year 7 – 1.40 – 3pm

Year 7s will have lunch from 1.10pm - 1.40pm on Wednesday so we recommend students to order their lunch from the Canteen as it will be ready to collect at 1.10pm.

Primary School Gala Day Helpers

Well done to our Year 8/9/10 students who assisted with the primary schools’ Gala Day on 3 June. Our students enjoyed the opportunity to develop their umpiring and coaching skills whilst being positive role models for younger students and contributing to our community.

Football

Linc, Declan, Beau, Flynn, Mitchell and James

Netball

Millie, Emahlia, Larni, Zoe, Nevaeh and Lily

Hockey

       Zane, Mason, Aaron and Brandon

Upcoming Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

Our teachers greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss students’ learning progress with parents. Interviews are on Monday 16 (3.30pm – 7pm) and Tuesday 17 June (3.30pm – 5.30pm) and information has been sent home about these. Please contact the office is you need any support in booking an appointment. There will also be another opportunity in Term 3 for families to discuss their child’s progress with teachers.

Importance of Home Group-8.50am - 9:00am

Home Group starts at 8:50am each morning and it’s where Home Group Teachers record attendance, communicate important information to students, help student get set up for their learning as well as build connection and belonging.

Home Group Teachers provide pastoral care to students ensuring they feel connected to school and friends and have a significant adult at school to communicate with. 

Please support your child to be at school on time and organised. The Breakfast Club is open each day and all students are welcome to have breakfast in our K1 Café.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Elizabeth Williams

Fluency – the bridge between word recognition and comprehension

Fluency is a vital component of reading instruction as it has a strong relationship with reading comprehension. When students read fluently, they have reached a level of automaticity that enables them to focus on meaning rather than decoding words. Automaticity in decoding and sight word reading enables more capacity for the processing and storage of comprehension in working memory.

Research has shown that students comprehend better when they are more fluent and are likewise more fluent if they comprehend the text. However, fluency has a higher effect on comprehension than vice-versa hence the reason for focused fluency instruction to improve comprehension.

The Australian Curriculum V9 describes fluency as: ‘how a student becomes progressively faster, smoother, more accurate and expressive in their reading aloud of increasingly complex print texts. At higher levels of the [literacy] progression, students demonstrate comprehension of a text through confident use of intonation, pausing, accuracy and pace.’

Fluency is demonstrated at 2 levels: word reading fluency and text (passage) reading fluency.

• Word reading fluency is automatically reading aloud individual words correctly and without hesitation.
• Text reading fluency is automatically reading aloud passages of text with accuracy and at a rate that enables understanding of the text.

The three components of text reading fluency are accuracy, rate and prosody (expression).

Accuracy

• Students need to be able to pronounce written words correctly when reading aloud.
• Beginner readers usually do this by decoding.
• Experienced readers usually do this by accessing words from memory.
• Effortless and automatic recognition and production of whole words enable rate.

Rate

• Rate refers to the speed students read the text and depends on accuracy.
• Automatic word reading supports the ability to read text at a rate that allows the reader to pay attention to the meaning of the text rather than decoding words.
• Faster reading is not better as encouraging students to read quicky can increase errors and reduce comprehension.
• The reading rate should mirror speech as the human brain is wired to oral language.

Prosody (Expression)

• Prosody means reading with expression using the appropriate rhythm, tone, pitch, pauses and stresses for the text.
• It is dependent on accuracy and rate.
• ‘Prosody has a reciprocal relationship with comprehension. For a student to read with prosody, they must be gaining some understanding of the text as they read it if they know the appropriate intonations and pitch to use. Likewise, by reading with prosody, they are more likely to be processing information as they read it, which leads to better retention and comprehension.’ (Five from Five, 2022)
• Students must be able to understand all forms of punctuation to read with expression.

Evidence based strategies:

At Scottsdale High we are implementing fluency strategies into our English classes as part of their daily routine. You may hear your child mentioning these strategies:

Repeated reading 

Repeated reading involves students reading the same passage of texts 4-5 times. It can be timed or untimed (timing purpose: to capture gains in rate/to give concrete feedback.

The teacher/peer provides explicit and immediate corrective feedback and modelling after each read.

Choral reading 

Choral reading is reading aloud together. [whole class, small group or student pairs].

When several readers read the same text aloud, the more fluent readers support the less fluent readers, through modelling and leading. The focus tends to be more on accuracy and rate than expression.

Echo reading 

Echo reading involves the teacher/student reading a line or sentence, then the whole class/group/student echoes it back. They echo the same line (not the next line), using the same accuracy, rate and expression. [whole class, small group or student pairs]. Echo reading allows for quick positive and corrective feedback.

Cloze reading 

Cloze reading involves the teacher reading class texts aloud. Students track along silently. Randomly the teacher will stop reading and the students choral read the next word or line. Cloze reading allows students to build self-confidence and motivation.

We look forward to monitoring our students’ progress throughout the year as we build their literacy skills and confidence as readers.

As Term 2 is well underway, we wanted to share a timely reminder about the importance of school attendance.

We love seeing your child at school every day – it’s the best place for them to learn and grow. It’s a chance to be around their friends, learn new things (including life skills), spark their curiosity and have fun.

Term 2 is packed with exciting things your child won’t want to miss:

• Hospitality Information Session Years 10-12^th June
• Parent/Teacher Interviews 16-17^th June
• Newstead College Open Day 19^th June
• Ag Speed Career Beacon Expo 23^rd June
• Scottsdale High Open Day 26^th June
• Launceston College Open Day 1^st July
• Plus more engaging opportunities

As part of our Collaborative Inquiry into attendance we will be conducting a survey with some students whose attendance data sits within the following range 80-90%. The questions will be designed to give an insight into some of the reasons for non-attendance. If you have any concerns or would like further information around your child’s attendance, please contact the Student and Wellbeing Team via the school office.

For tips on creating positive attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.

Please talk to us if you’re having trouble getting your child to school. We’re here to help and support is available. Contact the school office on 63526333 to arrange an appointment.

It was a perfect day for our Cross Country at Bridport Foreshore with Minstone being the victors! Well done to all our students who attended and competed. Participation and house spirit was very strong led by our terrific house captains. Congratulations to students who qualified for the Inter-High Cross Country Carnival. Many thanks to Mrs Tuffin, HPE team and staff for assistance on the day. A big thank you to Nicky for the BBQ ensuring students were fueled for the races. We are so fortunate to be able to hold this carnival at Bridport.

After our SHS Carnival, our top four runners of each division headed to the Inter-High Cross Country at Kings Meadows. All students put in their best effort for their respective races and displayed a high level of support and sportsmanship. A special mention to Zeke in Year 8, who placed second in his race. Zeke, along with a number of our other team members, will represent NHSSA at the State Cross Country in the coming weeks. A big congratulations to all competitors today! Thanks to Mrs Tuffin and Mr Sweedman for accompanying and supporting the team.

On Wednesday 28^th May a group of Year 10 -12 students participated in a work-based learning industry tour at Kempe Engineering and Timberlink at Bell Bay. Students received information on a range of different careers across these two sites. This visit was in partnership with the Beacon Foundation and we thank everyone involved in making this opportunity possible as students broaden their understanding of career opportunities.

Wood Academy students have been working very hard on their craft projects. 

We enjoyed welcoming back Lochlan, Charlotte, Tara and Will who shared their thoughts and information about studying at Newstead College with our Year 10s last Friday. Thanks to Adrian and our former students for the presentation and answering our questions. It was great to see how are students are continuing to thrive as learners in the senior secondary context.

Congratulations to Rhianna who has been selected to represent Tasmania in the 2025 Australian Football 15 Years and Under Championships In Brisbane at the end of July. We wish Rhianna all the best!