Staff Changes

We would like to congratulate Caleb Turale for winning the Acting Principal role at Big Picture School, Launceston. This is a very well-deserved position for Caleb who has been a key member of the Queechy Leadership Team for over 10 years. The position will be for Term 2. We wish Caleb all the best as he takes over the leadership of his new school.

Katrina Davenport, our Year 10 Grade Leader, will step into Caleb’s AP position for term 2. Replacing Katrina will be Ann-Marie Harris, another member of our experienced AST team. Ann-Marie will take over the leadership of the year 10 team at the beginning of term 2.

Covid Update

We, like many other schools in the region, have noticed a significant decline in Covid activity over the last few weeks.

Currently we have only 13 active cases across the school:

Grade 7 – 1 cases

Grade 8 – 4 cases

Grade 9 – 5 cases

Grade 10 – 4 cases

Grade 11/12 - 1 case

We have only 2 active staff cases and 3 staff close contacts.

Again, I would like to thank staff, students and families for the way you have all tackled the challenges the outbreak has had on our school this term. I would also like to thank a great pool of relief teachers who have been here on an almost full-time basis for the latter half of term 1. The support we have received from our relief teachers has been exceptional with a big shout out to Heather Jackson who has had the unenviable task of making sure we have a teacher in front of all our classes on a daily basis this term!

Covid Plan Term 2

As shared in the last newsletter, the DoE has released an updated plan for how schools will operate during term 2. The link with all the details can be found here OVERVIEW-Term-2-COVID-safe-schools-plan.pdf (education.tas.gov.au)  

There are minimal changes in place for next term at this point in time. Mask wearing is still mandatory for staff, students and parents when in our buildings.

If any changes are made during the term, I will notify our school community through both our SMS system and via the newsletter.

Moderation day

A reminder to all parents that Thursday this week is a professional learning day for staff. All teaching staff will be engaged in state wide sessions on our new reporting to families approach that begins mid-year. Staff will also be engaged in our normal moderation process aimed at creating consistency in our assessment of student learning. This is an ongoing process for our staff here at Queechy and Thursday is a time to look at how we can also assess students against the 9-point scale. More information on this new reporting approach will be shared with families later this year. 

Lastly, I would like to reassure parents that we are still running our school with a “business as usual” approach where possible. Our students are still engaged in high quality, differentiated learning opportunities. Our Personal Pursuits classes are still running as normal and we have even been able to run some off-site activities throughout the term.

If you have any concerns or simply need to ask a question, then please do not hesitate to contact myself or members of our leadership team to answer your query or concern.

I wish all our families well for the Easter break and look forward to seeing our students and staff back refreshed, and ready for another big term.

Warm regards

In Term 1 this year, the SLB have been successful in organising many events for fundraising. Our major fundraiser for Term 1 was the Cancer Council Relay for Life, raising funds for cancer research and treatments. During the week of the swimming carnival, the junior and senior schools individually participated in a walkathon. Students walked laps of the oval as a mini relay for life and participated in activities in tutor groups. Money raised through cupcake sales was further donated to the Cancer Council, on behalf of the school and SLB. Following these events at school, the SLB represented Queechy High School at the Relay for Life and walked 155 laps in 6 hours. The SLB look forward to organising future events for Queechy.

Chloe and Oliver. 

This term maths and science students have begun to trial the use of a framework to support critical and creative thinking.

Critical and creative thinking is one of the general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum and so it goes hand in hand with other important areas such as literacy and numeracy. It involves using skills, behaviours, and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination, and innovation.

The framework is given below and is being used by students in Maths to explore problem solving and inquiry investigations. It is being used by science students to investigate ideas and develop practical experiments.

Can you see how the framework could be used to help solve real-world problems?

A major focus in English and HaSS this term has been teaching students how to write well-structured paragraphs (following the PEEL process) and to write effective notes using the Cornell Note Taking strategy.

These skills can be used across subjects and will support students with their future study at Queechy and beyond.

Teachers have been meeting weekly this term to plan engaging lessons aligned with the Australian Curriculum. Time has been spent uploading these lessons to Canvas so students working from home have access to all the learning taking place in the classroom. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions about Canvas.

Next term, we have some students entering the Australian History Competition. This will take place in week 5. It has been great to see how many students put their hand up to enter and we look forward to seeing their results in July.

Our WINN (What I Need Next) program in Grade 7 has proven to be a great success. In this lesson, students work in flexible groups focussing on reading strategies and skills. Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive.

On behalf of all the English and HaSS team, we hope you have a relaxing and restful holiday. We look forward to seeing everyone in Term 2.

Ms Markland’s Street Art students spent the afternoon of April the 7^th, critiquing tags and art work at the skatepark along the foreshore of the Tamar River in Launceston and then painted their tag onto a wall or contour of the skate bowl. All enjoyed their final lesson and a great afternoon with Mr Bowden.

We have had a great start to the year in year 11 and 12 with students engaging in new and exciting learning opportunities. Our Vocational Educational Training (VET) class studying a Certificate II in Community Services with a focus area of Aged care and Disability support have progressed well and are looking forward to engaging in practical learning opportunities soon. 

Our classes studying Tasmanian Aboriginal Studies and English Writing 3 have an excursion this week and will be investigating cultural links to place and wilderness.

Students studying Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD CAM) have had great success learning how to use different computer software and hardware during their introduction to design and manufacturing. We have looked at skills using vinyl cutters, 3D printers, direct to garment printers and are looking forward to using the laser cutter and CNC mill. It is exciting to see the ability of students in the area of design when they are well supported and become equipped with the tools to express their creativity. I am keen to see what major projects might be created later in the year.

Vaccination clinics in school holidays

A number of state-run COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held during the school holidays.

This is a great opportunity for families to get their kids vaccinated, if they haven’t already, before colder months hit.

State-run clinics, selected GPs and pharmacies are offering free COVID-19 vaccination for all age groups. This means children aged 5–11 years can get the paediatric dose, 12+ years can get the adult dose, and 16+ years can get their booster shots.

Get your free Pfizer vaccine over the school holidays at the following state-run clinics:

All ages – 5+ years

• Clarence High School – 29–30 April
• Glenorchy Main Road – 17–18 April
• Montrose Bay High School – 21–24, 26–30 April, 1 May
• Hobart Collins Street – 16 April
• Hobart PW1 – 17, 19, 21–24, 26–30 April
• Kingston Kingborough Community Hub – 18–21 April
• Launceston Transit Centre – 16-17, 19, 21–22, 28–30 April.

5–11 years only

• Burnie Arts & Function Centre – 10, 19, 24, 29 April
• Devonport Don Centre – 18, 23, 28 April
• Glenorchy Main Road– 20 April
• Hobart Collins Street – 20 April
• Huonville Baden Powell Scout 7 Guide Hall – 30 April
• Launceston Transit Centre – 24 April
• Scottsdale Squash Centre – 30 April
• Sorell School – 1 May.

Walk-ins are accepted at all state-run clinics, or to book go to www.coronavirus.tas.gov.au or call the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.

If you prefer to get vaccinated with a participating family doctor or pharmacy, you can book directly with them too.

Make sure the whole family is protected, ready for Term 2.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

Does your child catch the bus?

If not, perhaps now is the time to try as it will be free for the next 5 weeks!

Travel is free on all public and school buses from Monday, 28 March to Saturday, 30 April 2022.

This five-week fare free period is intended to encourage more people to try the bus and help family budgets.

For more information, schools, families, and students can talk to their bus driver, visit www.transport.tas.gov.au/public_transport or call 6166 3343 (9:00 am to 5:00 pm weekdays).

We invite families & children to join us at this year’s Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival - a connective experience for everyone. 

The festival is held 22-25th April on the stunning cultural landscape of lunawuni/Bruny Island.  

The Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival is a powerful, inclusive and safe place for all people to come together, unplug, enhance well-being and connect to the land; honouring culture, knowledge and community through music, ceremony and play.  The full range of offerings unites the Indigneous & non Indigenous community and creates a space where all are welcome, cultivating a connectedness between individuals and groups, with a strong focus on families.

We believe it’s important to honour our younger generations by creating a welcoming and inclusive space that leads young participants and their families through cultural and bush experiences and activities that allow children to learn, express themselves and create through play, collaboration and conversation. The festival offerings, in particular the Children’s Village, celebrates our individual abilities and expression, sharing them within a supportive environment and community. 

The Nayri Niara good spirit Festival encourages safety and inclusivity through being a drug and alcohol free event, and including a discounted ticket for Aboriginal Community Members, Bruny Island Residents, Concession Holders & free entry for children under 15. 

Click here for more information on tickets, offerings, programming and activities. 

Website + Tickets: www.nayriniaragoodspirit.com/festival2022

Facebook: @nayriniaragoodspiritfestival

Instagram: @nayriniara