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Dear Parents and Carers
Firstly our thoughts and prayers are with the Hillcrest Primary community as they navigate an absolute tragedy.
Our students had many opportunities this week to celebrate another big year in the history of Queechy. Whilst we managed to escape any further lockdowns in 2021, we have yet to return to the pre-COVID times of the past. As the pandemic continues to throw curve balls at us, we head into 2022 with a little trepidation as the effects of an open border and a new COVID variant cast some doubt over the new year.
As a school we are very well-placed to overcome any challenges we face during 2022. Our staff have worked hard in their teams to ensure our classroom learning is of the very highest quality and our online offerings are equally well prepared.
I encourage all families to take the time to relax and re-energise over the Christmas break and I look forward to lead once again Queechy High on our journey to be the best High School in Tasmania.
End of Year Celebrations
Students celebrated the end of 2021 in style over the last week with many opportunities to relax, be challenged and enjoy time with each other and our staff. The highlights for myself were the Presentation Evening and the Celebration Dinner.
Both these events highlighted the significant connection to Queechy High our students and staff have. Our presentation evening celebrated many students who live our ideals of Quality, Harmony and Success in everything they do here at Queechy.
The celebration dinner was an opportunity for our students to participate in a significant rite-of-passage as they head from one stage of their learning journeys, to the next.
I would like to thank all our students for celebrating in a positive and respectful way this year and look forward to working with you all once again in the new year.
Departing staff
The end of each year is always tinged with a level of sadness as we farewell staff who won’t be with us in 2022.
Mr Goodwin will return to a full-time teaching position at Launceston College after working in our EAL program this year
Emily Lloyd one of our amazing TA team, will be taking up a position at Punchbowl Primary
Mrs Attenborrow, Mrs Mesman and Mrs Hall are all heading off to have brand new babies early next year, we wish them all the best and can’t wait for them to come back for show and tell in the new year.
Nathan East will move back to his position at the eschool
Penni Ives and Mia Blair our two wonderful school nurses are heading back to work in hospitals and our former nurse Peter Jacobson, Jake, will be returning to us in 2022.
Toni Gorham in our office will be starting a new role in her family business.
Mrs Maddy will be taking up a new position at Riverside High and I wish her the very best
Jack Spotswood-McDonald will be finishing his Aboriginal Education Worker role with us but will hopefully return as a part of a new initiative in 2022.
Mrs Kroon will be on leave during 2022.
And finally, Mr Fleming, the older one, will be leaving us to take up a position at Port Dalrymple school. I know he has had a significant impact on a large number of students here at Queechy and he will be sorely missed!
All of these staff have made a significant contribution to the lives and wellbeing of many students in our school community. Some will return to us in the future, but all will be sadly missed next year, and I wish them the best for whatever the future has in store.
A major focus in English and HaSS this year has been to deliver highly engaging, differentiated lessons that cater for each and every student. Teachers have been involved in weekly collaborative planning sessions to review student work,analyse data and create highly engaging teaching programs.
Clear learning intentions, success criteria and access to lessons on Canvas have ensured all students understand the purpose of their lessons, what is expected of them and have access to planning and resources if they are away.
Australian English and History competitions, live performances, Book Week and excursions have made for a fantastic year in English and HaSS across all the grades.
A massive thank you to the teaching team and teacher assistants for their dedication and hard work throughout the year.
“We watched a performance in the library titled Words of War. We really liked how music was used to convey emotion and hearing about the song ‘I was only 19’. The performer also told us lots about his family connections to the war.”
Trey, Crystal, Teaira and Isaac (Grade 10)
“We read the novel A Long Walk to Water in English. We learnt how people in Sudan live their lives and the struggles they have to get clean drinking water.”
Charlie and Toby (Grade 7)
“We went to the ‘Tamar Tales’ at Newstead College with some students from our feeder primary schools. It was great to work with people outside of our class. We liked listening to other people’s ideas and learning how our peers wrote
effective stories.”
Amelia and Ava (Grade 7)
“In History we learnt about the cause of WW1 and how and why it happened. We wrote letters from the perspective of a soldier in the war.”
Jessica and Nina (Grade 9)
2021 Maths and Science
Students have had a wide range of opportunities in Maths and Science this year. Students were supported to develop skills required for their future. The learning that occurred in Maths and Science allowed students to develop their understanding of space and geometry, biology and chemistry, number and algebra, physics and Earth science, and statistics and probability. We look forward to learning more about our world next year!
Students also participated in competitions such as the Australian Maths Competition and the Mathematics Olympiad. Congratulations to the following award winners:
Australian Maths Competition
Eve – High Distinction
Celeste – Distinction
Joel – Distinction
Sam – Distinction
Will – Distinction
Mathematics Olympiad
Celeste (Top 20%, First in School)
Daniel
Eve
Max
This term 20 students were selected to participate in a TasDance program which was fully funded by The Smith Family. It was a 5 day workshop over the course of a month where students had the opportunity to interact with Australian choreographers and learn about making and performing of dance. During their time at the workshop, they learnt about site specific dance, contemporary dance, First Nations dance and the different ways dance can be performed. By the end of the workshop, students were able to share the dances they created to family and friends.
Two and the Same
Sullenly did he sway down the track without a name,
his mind a haze with his bottle of poison
so firmly in his hand,
his mouth the rims of a waterfall
leaking spirits instead of water,
and it was through his intoxication
that he did so find himself in isolation.
Down the track he continued
with the sun pulling itself from view,
leaving no light in sight
except the glimmering of stars staring down at him
but even they too had limits to their generosity
as a herd of clouds joined in arms around the night sky.
The man’s attention turned to the wilderness around him,
the rare cricketing that sung at random
and the clustering of trees
serving as an audience to his drunken foolishness.
Sullenly did he sway down the track without a name,
his mind turning to grief
as he considered his current situation,
for the further he walked.
His mind now joined the coalition against him
as it began to puppeteer apparitions which unsettled him to no end,
some he recognised from the life of competence he was once so enamoured with,
they now appeared before him
but twisted and disturbed,
happy memories
now unrecognisable.
Indeed,
did he remember these things,
the man he once was
fit, healthy and beaming with energy.
He fell to his knees in torment,
bottle still firm in hand,
and as he desperately persisted to engross his tongue with the flavours of relief and safety, it was then did he hear the silent gaze beside him.
His head turned to meet another,
thin and gaunt was this creature,
cloaked in shadows but what unsettled him most was the face.
Elongated and crude,
baring similarities to the stretch marks of the trees.
Hollow eyes with only flecks of light living inside these pair of pits
yet they stared through his soul all the same,
full of judgement and grief.
Sullenly did he run down the track without a name,
fear possessing his legs and gnawing at his mind with every glance behind him having nothing to show for it
but each to the side providing quite the contrary,
two flecks of light striking into his soul,
full of judgement, grief and now pity.
Soon his body gave under him and he came to a halt with a stumble and a fall,
the sound of silence growing nearer,
more intense by the second as it spilt his head in two.
Desperate he now was and,
in this state,
did he turn to the flavour of relief and safety,
bringing the bottle to his lips as he turned to the trees beside him.
The figure was there to meet him
drawing in whatever remnants of light was left in the world around him.
Sweet liquor came pouring into the man’s mouth
and as it poured in
the figure in turn
grew larger and darker,
judgement
grief
and pity
intensifying by the drop.
Kenneth (Grade 9)
Last Thursday we celebrated student success at the 2021 Presentation Evening.
Here are some photo's of students recieving an award on the night.
For the Grade 7 activites this year, the students enjoyed playing Laser Tag and Volleyball.
