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- Assistant Principal's Report
- JCP - Youth Program 2022
- In The Zone - Art Project
- SMARTS Dance Program 2022
- Wear Your Pride Day 2022
- Year 7 Swimming and Water Safety Program
- Indigenous Hub
- Reconciliation - A Collection of Thoughts 7D
- Sustainability in Japan
- House Points Update
- Meet Our Student Leaders - 2022
- Upcoming Student Events - Term 2
- Table Tennis Tournament
- Art Competition
- Book Club
- 2022 Levies
- Parklands Pop-Up Pantry
- 2022 Tasmania Term Dates
- The Smith Families "Learning for Life" Program
- Penguin District School Production 2022 - Rapunzel
- Managing COVID-19 in Schools
- Covid-19 symptoms - What to look out for
- Changes to Close Contact Requirements
- Your Go-To Guide to Rapid Antigen Tests
- Do's and Don'ts of Mask Wearing
Learning, Teaching and Celebrating
Welcome, Parklands, to this edition of the newsletter. It has been exciting to see so much evidence of learning at our school. Our school values support all our actions; we know that Term 1 is focussed on developing positive relationships, so our students feel safe and supported to be their best. It has been great to see this focus extend to our school value of having high expectations for so many of our students, especially regarding their in-class work.
This term our teaching staff have been receiving feedback from their students about their learning. Staff have been visiting classes completing “learning walks”. During these visits, students are asked five questions and their response is captured and shared with the teacher. The teacher then views this data and makes changes to their teaching to support greater learning. Firstly, our students need to be congratulated on their responses. It’s so great to hear them reflect on their learning, as well as provide meaningful feedback to their teachers. Our teaching staff also need to be recognised for always having their classrooms open to visitors and to listening to feedback and making changes. Below is an example of the questions our students are being asked:
- What are you learning?
- How are you going?
- How do you know?
- What are your next steps?
- Where do you go for help?
What we have learnt through this process is how important our students’ voices are. They know themselves best and it is important that we ask them about their learning, and even more important that we listen. As a school, we were really impressed with over 200 parent teacher interviews during our Term 2 Parent Teacher Nights. Thanks so much for showing that you value your child’s learning; it really makes a difference.
One thing that we do know about high school age students is that they tend to be reluctant to share how their day has been, or what they have been learning. Below are questions that we encourage our parents to ask their child when they come home from school:
- What did you learn today?
- How did you do?
- What did you do if you didn’t understand?
- How can you improve your learning?
- What are you most proud of?
Learning is important, teaching is important and celebrating success and growth is important. Our students are very talented and with hard work they achieve great things. Please take the time to recognise your child’s achievements, inside or outside the classroom and celebrate their accomplishments with them!
There have also been great things happening outside the classroom. Throughout this edition of the newsletter, you will see students representing the school in sport, netball, football, dancing, art excursions, and our school’s Pride Day. All these events have showcased our students’ skills and positive behaviour. Another exciting event that is starting to build momentum at Parklands is the Production of Back to the 80s. Being a member of a school production is a considerable commitment for everyone involved. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour in Term 3. All these meaningful opportunities only occur when staff go above and beyond. Thank you to our wonderful team. Have a great long weekend, and make sure you hug your loved ones.
Sam Wells
Assistant Principal
Art Project at In The Zone
Parklands High School has been incredibly fortunate to be invited to be involved in the development of the new In The Zone facility that is due to open later in the year. A number of our students and art classes earlier this week made our way down to the new building to begin painting and displaying our art to jazz up the new place. For us to be involved in such a large-scale project and to create an inspiring new space, students were tasked with planning and designing artwork of a large scale and working collaboratively with peers to achieve the desired results. They’ve learnt about paste up art, street art and also what it is like working for a client. Tuesday we got a taste of what it is like to spend a day as a working artist and began to put our work into place and experiment with spray painting. Next week, we will be finalising our plans and finishing off our masterpieces. We are very excited for the public to experience the new In The Zone when it opens and to see the fantastic work of our students. A huge thank you to Ray, Jannis and the team at In The Zone Burnie for this incredible opportunity.
Watch this space!
Miss DevlinIn The Zone Art Project
TAS DANCE WORKSHOP 2022!!
At the beginning of week 5 on the 30th May to the 5th of June, a group of students participated in a Smith Family and Tas Dance workshop. Sami & Gabe showed us how to be ourselves when dancing and showed us their ways when coming to contemporary dancing , and how we can incorporate our skills and movements through the tasks we all did. We did many performances throughout the week, many partner actives as well as a whole group dance piece which was very fun and in enjoyable with everybody leaving with smiles on their faces and feeling like they could be themselves without being judged. Overall, everyone had a great time Sami & Gabe were wonderful mentors towards everyone hopefully to see them soon throughout the year.
Ella Triffitt and Benita Leary
Wear Your Pride Day
On Friday June 3, Parklands High School kicked off celebrating Pride Month with great success! Students and staff who participated dressed up in their most colourful and had a blast at recess and lunch rocking out to some LGBTQIA+ tunes and drawing stunning Pride positive and inclusive art and messages. We also enjoyed some rainbow jelly, cupcakes, and fabulous face painting!
The school raised $419.60 for North-West Pride—a spectacular local community group that supports LGBTQIA+ individuals and families on the North-West Coast. Find them on Facebook!
A massive thank you to the students from the Pride Group and Leadership Team who helped run events and organise the day! And to the staff who supported and facilitated everything—including the cooking of all the cupcakes and jelly!
After such success Parklands is excited to look forward to celebrating Pride again in 2023.
Year 7 Swimming and Water Safety Program
Year 7 Swimming and Water Safety Program
Around two weeks ago, the whole Year 7 grade was involved in our annual swimming and water safety program at the Burnie Aquatic Centre. The program was about water safety and how to survive and they taught us how to swim. We had three groups and three teachers who taught us how to do backstroke, freestyle and breaststroke, and they also taught us how to float. They taught us how to look out for people in the water and how to help them. (They also told us not to throw the safety rope too far out or it might hit the swimmer on the head.) The program ran for a week and a half and was both fun and educational. A highlight was when they brought out the safety boats and we had to help our buddies into the boat, practise saving them and paddle to the dock (or the end of the pool), and also when we got to pin drop into the deep end and swim to the other side of the pool. A few key safety features we learnt were: not to run around the water, how to stay afloat, don’t lean over water in case you fall in, and look at the water to see how far it is or deep it is before diving. Overall, we had a great time and it was very fun. Thanks to Mr Costelloe and the PE team for organising it.
Dean Harrow and Layla O’Brien.
On Thursday June 9, I was lucky enough to host a class of students from Hellyer College through our Cultural Hub. The teacher, Matthew Smart, had perviously toured with Penguin District High School. To have some past Parklands High School students amongst the group was a real highlight for me. The session went very well and as a follow up the Hellyer College Students aqlong with selected Parklands High School students will participate in an "On COunrty" Excursion to Arthur River and Marrawah on June 30.
Guy Grey
Aboriginal Education Services
Matthew Smart had these words to say,
Thanks again for accommodating our students today. They were engaged with the content & many were discussing various viewpoints on the bus back to college.
Well done Chalky with what you have created and it's a fantastic resource to learn about our First Nations people. It was a little chilly in the room but other than that, as a school/community you should be very proud of changing future generations & educating them about our history.
Reconciliation - A Collection of Thoughts 7D
A collection of thoughts about Reconciliation from 7D – pretty proud of their work.
Mrs Boyd
Sustainability in Japan
In Japanese this Term, the students have been looking at the concept of ‘Mottainai’. The term in Japanese conveys a sense of regret over waste and can be translated as "What a waste!" Japanese environmentalists have used the term to encourage people to "reduce, reuse and recycle". People are encouraged to use every item, belonging and even time in a non-wasteful manner, and put everything to the best and optimum use.
We have learnt how to use ‘Furoshiki’, traditional Japanese wrapping cloths used to wrap and transport goods and food. It was great to find different ways of wrapping boxes, bottles and other food.
Pre Cross Country House Points update
With the recent activities happening around the school, we have seen a tightened race in this year’s house championship. Well done to those who participated and placed in the Japanese competition, won core values and participated in the Fitness Testing Championships. Well done to all students who have taken up lunchtime activities organised by the Student Leadership Group and those who have been taking extra pride in the school grounds, putting rubbish in their respective house bin.
Meet Our Student Leaders - 2022
Regan Dobson
Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
In my future I would like to be working as a Radiologist.
I would like to be working as either a theroputic or diagnostic radiologist. I think its really interesting and I'd like to be able to help people.
The best experience I have had in Grade 10 is ...
Getting nto catch up with people I didn't see over the holidays.
The thing I have enjoyed most at Parklands is …
Meeting and getting to know all of the staff.
If I could change one thing about the world now it would be?
I would change the world to be more accepting and understanding.
To be the best you can be at Parklands as a student you need to ...
Come to class with everything that you need. Be prepared.
Levies
Levy payments are now due.
If your circumstances have changed, or if you are experiencing financial difficulty or financial hardship, or if you are receiving an invoice for levies and you shouldn’t be, please contact the school’s Business Manager, Angela Townsend or angela.townsend@education.tas.gov.au
You may be eligible for the Student Assistance Scheme. If you are eligible and your application is approved, you will not need to pay any levies. An application form is available from the School Office or you can apply online.
Managing COVID-19 in schools
This term, there will be some changes in how COVID-19 cases are managed in schools.
Our school will continue to work closely with Public Health to safely manage any COVID-19 cases, with a focus on testing students and staff who have symptoms.
The number of students and staff with COVID-19 will be closely monitored, and we will work with Public Health to respond as needed. If there’s an increase in cases, Public Health will tell us what we need to do and what actions families will need to take.
Parents and carers will no longer receive a message every time there is an individual case in a class or grade – unless students or staff are medically vulnerable.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our school office.
For more information about COVID-19, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.
If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.
Covid-19 symptoms - What to look out for
COVID-19 symptoms to look out for
Thank you to our entire school community for your cooperation this term by practising COVID-safe behaviours.
As you know, an important COVID-safe behaviour is to stay at home if you’re unwell and get tested for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test.
Public Health tells us that the number of cases of COVID-19 in children is low, and they’re likely to have milder symptoms.
It’s a good reminder to be mindful of the symptoms of COVID-19 in children. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children are cough, fever, runny nose and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.
If you need support translating or interpreting this information, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.
Changes to Close Contact Requirements
Changes to close contact requirements
Public Health has recently changed the rules for close contacts of COVID-19 cases so that they no longer need to isolate.
This means that if your child is a close contact – and importantly, symptom-free – they can attend school (except for support schools).
They would however need to pass a daily rapid antigen test before leaving home each day, for a seven-day period. Advice for close contacts is available on the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website.
You will only need to let us know if your child is a close contact if they’re not attending school.
Close contacts should practise COVID-safe behaviours including good hand hygiene, physically distancing from others when they can and staying away from school if they have any symptoms.
While primary aged close contacts are not obliged to wear a mask in school, they can still choose to if it is practicable for them and they are happy to do so.
If your child is medically vulnerable and you have concerns with the changes to close contacts, then you may wish to work with your child’s medical practitioner to identify further options to reduce the risk of COVID-19 to them. If you have any concerns, please talk to us about alternative learning options.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our school office.
For more information about COVID-19, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.
If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.