Dear Parklands Community, 

As we reach the end of Term 3, I would like to take the time to reflect on the wonderful learning opportunities, experiences and events that our students and school community have been fortunate enough to access over the last 10 weeks, along with the exponential growth our school continues to make, as a result of our focussed school improvement agenda. 

Production 

Our recent production ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’ was an impressive display of stage craft, blossoming confidence, collaboration, perseverance, and accountability from all of our students involved. Taya, Tilly, Kyann and Neveah, and their whimsical and vibrant stage personalities captured the undivided attention of adults and children in the audience, which was awesome to see. Jordyn and the unequivocal confidence and fearlessness she displayed as Snoopy, along with the charismatic softness and emotionally captivating – Bronte as Charlie Brown were outstanding. 

I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of – Miss Cordwell, Miss Lincoln, Mrs Harney, Mrs Tiffany Smith, Ms Georgia Odgers and Ms Keisha Carey in coordinating and producing our school production this year. We are fortunate to have truly wonderful staff who are deeply committed to ensuring that our students have every opportunity to learn, grow and shine at Parklands High School. 

NAPLAN 

Our recent NAPLAN results show significant gains in student achievement in the areas of Year 9 Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammer and Pronunciation. If you haven’t yet seen our video that celebrates our outstanding NAPLAN achievements, please take the time to watch it using the following link: https://youtu.be/m57np2BaFSw?si=6YdDRIwGkOJOEh7w 

Attendance 

Every school day matters. Even just missing one day a fortnight can mean your child misses up to a year and half of their education, between Kindergarten and Year 12. Attendance at school ensures that we can minimise ‘gaps’ in student learning, our students are socially connected to their peers, and that they have the best opportunity to obtain employment and positive life outcomes.  

• 1 day a week – 40 days per year or 8 weeks per year. If your child’s attendance continued like this from Kindergarten to Year 12 – your child would miss the equivalent of 2.5 years of school or Year 10. 

• 2 days a week – 80 days per year or 16 weeks per year. Missing 2 days per week from Kindergarten to Year 12 is the equivalent of 5 years of school missed by your child or reaching Year 7. 

• 3 days a week – 120 days per year or 24 weeks per year. Missing 3 days a week from Kindergarten to Year 12 is the equivalent of 8 years of learning missed or your child finishing school in Year 6. 

For more information about attendance please visit: Attending school - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au) 

School Infrastructure and Improvement 

As many of you may be aware, our school has been the successful recipient of a number of grants in recent times. This has put our school in good stead to continue to grow and develop the resources we have available to our students that have a positive impact on learning and their social and emotional health. A brief update of school projects is listed below: 

Community Garden 

A focus group of students and staff are in the preliminary stages of planning a three-tiered community garden aimed at promoting cultural identity, positive mental health and reducing the cost of living for our school community. The garden’s first stage of preparation will be funded by an $8,000 grant obtained from a TAS Networks Community Grant that was applied for at the beginning of the school year. 

Ninja Warrior Course 

Our school received a grant late last year from the Tasmania Active Infrastructure Grant in November last year to contribute towards a state-of-the-art Ninja Warrior fitness course for our students. The total cost of the project is approximately $200,000. We are pleased to announce that the course is nearing commencement, and we are hopeful that we will begin to see some action during November this year. Stay tuned! 

Sporting Precinct – Courts and Outdoor Education Facilities 

Our school courts upgrade (new surface and fencing) has been faced with some challenges that have delayed the start or works. Unfortunately, the surface beneath our current courts requires additional assessment to ascertain its suitability for the new surface to be laid on. We are hopeful that this will occur in the not-too-distant future and we can obtain an official start date to share with our school community. This project has an estimated cost of $300,000. 

Kitchen Flexi Space Upgrade 

Our school received a $319,000 dollar grant towards the upgrade of our small kitchen facility. We have begun preliminary conversations with DECYP in relation to the functionality of this space for our students. The space will provide a new flexi learning area for our students to cook and learn in. We are hopeful that building works for this project will commence in 2025. 

Staffing Updates 

At the beginning of Term 4, Mr Allan Frankcombe will be moving into the role of Program Leader at Tier 4 Burnie. Allan has been an integral part of our Parklands High School community for the past 7 years and he will be undoubtably missed by many students and staff. We wish Allan all the very best as he embarks on this new and exciting journey, and we look forward to hearing about the wonderful things he will achieve in his new role. 

I would also like to acknowledge Mr Leigh Crawford in the role of Acting Assistant Principal this term. Leigh has demonstrated his skill diversity, his commitment to driving school priorities and supporting students over a relatively short period of time – thank you Leigh. Leigh now moves from Acting Assistant Principal to Year 10 Coordinator, whilst Mr Kirk Hampton continues in the role of Year 8 Coordinator for the remainder of 2024. 

Earlier this term, we farewelled Mrs Carol Boyd who dances into retirement after 3.5 years working at Parklands and an impressive 29 years working for the Department for Education, Children and Young People. We will miss Carol’s gentle; charismatic nature and we wish her well as she prepares for all things post-retirement. 

We also bid farewell to Deb Jordan and Ben Smit who have moved on for very different, yet exciting reasons. Deb has called time on her working career and has officially retired, whilst Ben has opted for a life of travel and exploration. We wish them both well in their future endeavours. 

Towards the end of Term 4, we are happy to share that Mrs. Zoe Smith will be taking leave to prepare for the arrival of her second child, and Mr. Josh Triffitt and Mr. Dylan Costelloe will also be taking leave as they get ready to welcome their new babies alongside their partners. We send a heartfelt Parklands High School congratulations to Zoe, Josh, and Dylan and wish them all the best during this special time in their lives. 

Respectful Schools 

I would also like to thank our staff, students and community members for continuing to value and promote the power of respectful behaviours in schools. Like the Department for Education, Children and Young People – we believe that everyone has the right to feel respected at school and there is no place for aggressive or threatening behaviours directed at students, staff or community members. For more information regarding DECYPs Respectful Schools campaign please visit: Respect In Our Schools - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au) 

In closing, I would like to wish our students, staff and Parklands community a safe and happy holiday break with their loved ones. We look forward to the return of fresh faces who are ready to learn and grow in Term 4. I leave you with live footage of our school Principal Mrs Magella Dudley making her way back from Perth, Western Australia with her caravan in tow ready to re-join us at the beginning of Term 4. 

Mrs B Munday - Acting Principal

What a busy term 3 it has been for year 7 this year! Early in week 2 of the term we began our swimming and water safety program which ran for one week with each group having 50 minute sessions each day. Some of the highlights from this week included Riley making a huge splash, students falling into the water and out of the safety rafts, practicing diving, helping each other into the safety rafts and floating around the pool and of course the donuts and hot food we bought on the last couple of days (well deserved!).  

During week 6 we were fortunate enough to travel to the Hive in Ulverstone, where astronomer Martin took us to the planetarium and taught us a lot about our solar system. Some other highlights were exploring the makers area, constructing our own mini cars to race (considering weight, design, and speed) and exploring the interactive science learning stations. A huge thank you to Mrs Sushames, Mr Triffit, Steffi and Miss Votavota for organising and supporting. 

In week 7 we had our school Nurse Jenny visit us and run sessions on personal hygiene, which was very insightful and helpful, a bonus was we all received a show bag with lots of goodies to support our personal hygiene and wellbeing. Thanks Jenny! 

In week 7 we also hosted our year 7/8 Junior assembly in B Block. A huge congratulations to all students who presented or performed during this assembly, you all spoke so well and upheld our school values. We also wish to again acknowledge students who were recognised for outstanding NAPLAN results.  

This term we have had a whole grade focus on our school core values (Super core values), each week staff nominated students who demonstrated our core values well and had a great week. These students were rewarded at the end of the term with a Pizza Party – congratulations to these students on a fantastic term, we hope to see more students demonstrating our values and celebrating with us next term! 

We look forwards to another productive, fun and engaging term 4. We hope all our year 7’s have a well deserved break.  

Miss Devlin and the Year 7 Team. 

It has been pleasing to see the way Year 8 students have settled in to learning so far this year, with the majority of students making the most of their opportunities in each class.  

In Mathematics students have been learning about Measurement and Geometry and were excited to design their own homes. They were able to calculate the perimeters and areas of basic and composite shapes, and figured out how Pies are not only edible, but useful in maths.  

The students had the opportunity to make a few gadgets in Science, including catapults and Rockets. Some groups worked out how to strengthen their catapult using multiple rubber bands, and managed to launch their projectiles  more than 7m. 

In Science, we have been looking and learning about rockets in general while demonstrating craftsmanship skills by building our own rockets. The resources and instruction booklets were provided in the science lab, thanks to our Lab Tech Steffi. She put time and effort into the instructions while also lending a helping hand to students in the building process. We have learnt what forces are involved in rockets which are weight, thrust, and aerodynamic forces which include lift and drag. Once we finish our rockets, we plan to launch them off at the oval grounds, hoping they won’t land on the roofs of the houses nearby. 

By Conner 8D & the Year 8 Team

It’s hard to believe that Term 3 is already coming to an end, 2024 is flying by! Our Year 9 students at Parklands High School have had a packed term full of learning. 

Grade 9 Core Class updates: 

In Math's, students have been developing their statistical skills, including creating frequency distribution tables and analyzing data in the media. During History in term 3 students have focused on World War I, diving into trench warfare and soldiers' experiences. In Science, students have been exploring human cell structure and tissue systems, while in English they have finished a dystopian unit and are now working on journalism. 

This term also saw some of our talented Year 9 students shine in the school production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Whether performing on stage or working behind the scenes, they’ve put in an enormous amount of effort to bring the show to life. Congratulations to all involved—you’ve made us proud! 

Looking ahead to Term 4: 

We have some exciting events coming up, including Pink Stumps Day, Spring Sports Day, and the Athletics Carnival. These events will be great opportunities for students to show their skills and enjoy some friendly competition. 

Well done Year 9’s for a fantastic Term 3! Let’s keep this momentum going for an amazing Term 4 before they head into their final year of High School. “ 

Mr Turale and the Year 9 Team  

Term 3 has been a busy term for grade 10s with work experience, Hellyer transitions, production, and lots of other events. 

On Friday week one, the grade 10s went up to Hellyer College for the day with lots of other schools. We had previously selected subjects that we were interested in and got to spend the day trialling all our possible subjects for next year and meeting the lovely teachers, and some of the current students. We were also provided with a free BBQ lunch, including drinks and cookies. After the taster day we started our transition plans. We worked on them in our PC time and on the 9th and 10th of September we came to school after hours and met with some of the Hellyer staff and enrolled in college next year with our class choices and got some guidance on whether it is the right class for us. 

On the 5th of September 8 year 10 girls went to UTas for the day with Mrs Hancock to learn about careers in the health department. We rotated around four different activities. Biomedicine, where we learnt about our heart rate and blood cells. Then we went to the nursing room where we learnt how to read a Holter Monitor and how to manage an open wound on a life like dummy. Then we moved to psychology where we watched a video on a suspect then we got distracted, and about 15 minutes later we had to describe the suspect to the ‘police’. After that we moved to pharmacy where we had to create a drug to cure type 2 diabetes, name it and then present it to the group. Overall, it was a good day. 

A mixture of grade 9 and 10 students visited Grange Resources in Burnie and the Grange facility at Port Latta on Tuesday. Students learned about Grange and its operations, and about the range of jobs available at the company, including apprenticeships and traineeships. We got to see the operation at Port Latta, where the iron ore slurry that comes from Savage River is dried into small pellets, cooked at 1300 degrees in massive furnaces and then stored until it can be loaded onto a ship. 

In English, the year 10s have been doing a reading progress tool. We get given a short reading and we have to record ourselves reading it. Then we get some questions to answer and while we are answering the questions the computer analyses our recording, and we have to repronounce words we struggled with in the reading. 

Lucy Year 10 

Parklands High School celebrates the success of our students in the recent NAPLAN assessments. We extend our gratitude to our students, their caregivers, and our staff for their exceptional efforts.

Merit Certificate Recipients

7A -  Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Maharlia M

7B -  Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Eziah W

7C - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Mayson R

7D - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Max C

8A - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Kymani W

8B - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Lilly S

8C – Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Jett K

8D - Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Connor M

9A - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Christine H

9B – Courage, accepting challenges and embracing opportunities – Tanner H

9C - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Leo Bourke

9D - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – Ryder W

10A - Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Russi S

10B - Growth, aspiring to learn, and improving, even when it is tough – James C

10C - Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Keshana O

10D - Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Justin D

HUB - Responsibility, stepping up and doing what’s right – Mitchell E

On Friday the 6^th of September 2024 Parklands High Production Team put on our first show together,  You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, the musical, based on the beloved Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz.

Since the beginning of the year both our dedicated students and teachers have worked day and night to prepare for the upcoming shows by spending hours revising scripts, making props, organising advertisements, practising and creating dances, and so much more tiring work.

The shows, though they had their hiccups, were fantastic thanks to the teachers – without whom none of this would’ve ever been possible –the hardworking actors who brought the iconic characters to life with charm, wit and enthusiasm and the backstage workers who ensured that each scene looked lively.

Throughout the duration of the Production the people who participated, though from all different parts of life, blended together becoming a big family. From dance parties and backstage dancing, to laying on the floor together after tiring shows, the environment created by all these wonderful humans was one like no other.

Specials mentions to our teachers;

Miss Cordwell our lovely producer who started the whole process and kept it going even through rough patches.

Miss Harney our incredibly talented art teacher who produced all our sets along with her Production Art class.

Miss Lincoln our amazing sound producer who helped with everything from vocals to sound with immense patience.

Keisha our choreographer who created each dance with love and enthusiasm truly tying all the scenes together.

Keshana Opatha our stage manager who totally rocked at keeping everything and every one in line during the entire duration of the shows.

Georgia our superstar TA who kept everyone upbeat and happy all the time.

And Chris Foster who was the incredible face behind all of our lighting and effects.

Our leads:

Bronte Morey who did an incredible job at playing Charlie Brown with her angelic voice.

Jordyn Edwards who was a hysterical character and lit up the crowd every night.

Taya Wells who did a wonderfully comedic portrayal of Lucy VanPelt.

Tilly Hay who played Sally Brown was perfectly suited for her role and an excellent dancer.

Kyann Gardam who played Schroeder was stoic and funny with the way she portrayed the character’s personality.

Nevaeh Merrit who acted as Linus Van pelt was witty and charming to all.

Congratulations to our Year 7/8 netball team for winning their Grand Final on the weekend, defeating MRC RED 45 - 3 to take out the B4 division title. Well done to Charlie K for taking out the Best in Final award.

At Parklands High School, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint, but unfortunately our paper consumption remains alarmingly high with Parklands using thousands of sheets per month. A group of students participated in the Tasmanian Youth Climate Change Leaders Program, and we embarked on a challenge to track and reduce our paper usage throughout the year. The results that we got, revealed that our reliance on paper not only impacts the school budget, but it also contributes significantly to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. 

The program addresses climate change and sustainable works. It also provides mentorship towards students as they effectively learn about climate change and how to implement this into their life’s. 

In term 1 students that chose to be in the program went to The Point on the University of Tasmania’s Burnie Campus here we tried seaweed biscuits on kelp platters and tried fresh seaweed from Burnie beaches. Again, in term 3 students visited the start of the program went to the Burnie Life Saving Club and showcased their findings to the other people that attended and gained their certificates. 

Staff have changed to sending home paper copies of work to now using Seesaw or Canvas, which in return has decreased the amount of paper we use significantly. Parklands has also planted lots of apple trees in the courtyard, and the groundsmen and EFAs are actively working on ensuring the trees have enough to survive. 

Mayson 

Year 7 

This term Year 7 and some Year 8 classes have been learning about ceramics and experimenting with some new techniques. Over the last few week’s we have also been fortunate to have student-teacher Miss Olivia Votavota join us in the Art Department and teach us how to create interesting coil pot creations. Have a look at some of the awesome work coming out of the art department this term! 

 Term Three in Japanese ALP has been busy with various activities.  

- We are slowly making progress through our Hiragana, and can read and write almost a quarter of them now.

- We have participated in a Calligraphy competition, and enjoyed attempting calligraphy of various symbols and meanings.  

-The best part was making some Japanese food including mini sushi and miso soup. 

Mrs Amatullah 

Japanese Teacher