Students in Year 8 HaSS began Term 4 with a Geography unit focussing on Landforms and Landscapes.

This unit looks at geographical concepts such as space, place, interconnections, change, environments, sustainability and scale. Students have built on their scientific understanding of geomorphic processes by investigating the characteristics of different landscape types.

Through this unit students have also had the opportunity to engage with topographic mapping skills. Below are some 3D models showing how contour lines map elevation created by 8C.

To begin term 4, students in Year 7 Maths have been learning about statistics and data. Students have been looking at different types of graphs and tables to draw information from. They have also created their own survey question to ask their class group, gathering data before presenting their findings in a poster format.

For grade 10 science term 4 week 6, students watched the documentary 2040. This documentary looks at the effects of climate change over the next 20 years, and mentions what technologies exist today that can reverse the effects by 2040. Students are now working on completing an inquiry based question based off the topics discussed in the documentary. An example of some inquiry questions from students include: “What will job opportunities look like in 2040 and will transport be fully electric by 2040?” The next step for grade 10s in science, is learning about the Big Bang Theory and diving deep into the unknown!!!!

Grade 9 students are currently finishing up their first Term 4 unit which has focused on Australian literary texts that represent indigenous people (past and present). Students have learned how to critically analyse various text types (including an in-depth study of the picture book, The Rabbits, written John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan, as well as song lyrics, poetry and the film, Rabbit Proof Fence to develop different interpretations.

Grade 9 English Teachers; Ann-Marie Harris, Hannah Brickhill, Lisa Mitchell, Mikalah Swain, Jasmine Gallagher and myself have all noted a high level of student engagement in this unit. To finish the year, students will complete a short unit on Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet.

This term in Café Culture one of the mini design challenges was to create a Café style shake. Students were to choose from items on hand to create a tasty drink that looked attractive. They could use ice, ice-cream, various flavoured syrups and of course different sweets for the top of their creations. Here are some of their creations.

As part of their World War One studies, 9F visited the Nile and Evandale to learn about their war commemorations. In coming weeks students will each research the war experiences of one of the 16 men from the Nile who lost their lives on the battlefields of Europe. At Evandale they learnt about a local man, Harry Murray who became the most decorated infantry soldier in the British Empire to fight in World War One. Murray also enlisted to serve in World War Two at the age of 59. 

When reflecting on the importance of memorials like what they saw, students said they were to:

 “Remember and appreciate what they have done for our country,” (Cassie)

“Keep their memories alive,” (Lili and Callum)

“Be grateful for people who were truly brave,” (Leon) 

“To show respect to people who fought,” (Tyler) 

“To remember those who were lost.” (Jespah)

On Wednesday 16^th November we saw over 90+ students participating in the Inter High Athletics Carnival. All students were exceptionally well behaved with numerous students stepping up and entering events that they didn’t qualify for.

Students came away with ribbons for their events, a few special mentions must go to the following participants.

Grade 10 Girls 100m runners

• Taylah 1^st heat 1, Ruby 1^st heat 2, Jess 1^st heat 3, Sophie 1^st heat 4 and Taylah 3^rd heat 5.
  What an amazing feat for all runners to place in each of their heats.

Grade 7/8 Boys 1500m runners

• Patrick 1^st, Archie 2^nd and Ryder 5^th. 3 runners in the top 5 is an amazing effort.

The following students also came away with wins in multiple events

• Taylah - 100m and 200m
• Ava - Shot Put, Discus and Javelin
• Aya - 400m and Triple Jump
• Patrick - 800m and 1500m

After a successful day at the track Queechy came away with the following results for the carnival.

• Junior shield- 4^th
• Senior shield- 5^th
• Aggregate shield- 4^th

All members of the Inter High Athletic team should be extremely proud!

Year 6 Orientation Day

On Wednesday we had 150 Year 6 students from our area attend the Year 7 Transition Day. Students were able to meet the other students who will be in their class next year, get to know our teaching team, participate in some classes and have a fair bit of fun thrown in.

I spoke to the cohort about the importance of being here every day, being connected to the adults in our school and having adult conversations about what is working well for them in 2023 and what isn’t.

Relationships are at the core of everything we do at Queechy and Wednesday was an extremely positive start to our new students developing strong relationships with both their peers and our teachers.

I look forward to welcoming all our beginning students at the start of next year.

2023 SLB Camp

I joined the 2023 Student Leadership Board at South Mt Cameron on Thursday this week. We explored the concept of Emotional Intelligence and had a dive into different leadership styles. Our SLB crafted their own personal definition of leadership, using examples from their own lives and the inputs from our discussions on the day.

I walked away feeling very proud of the incredible young people we have here at Queechy and look forward to working closely with them during next year.

Year 9 Newstead and LC Taster Sessions

A big thank you to the leadership teams and staff at both Newstead and Launceston Colleges. Our Year 9 cohort had the opportunity to begin their college transition with visits to both sites on Tuesday this week. Students were able to become comfortable with not only the physical layout of both colleges, but also find out specific information about what college may look like for them.

We received great feedback about our students on the day. Thank you to the year 9 team for ensuring opportunities like this are available for our students!

A reminder to families that end of year reports will be sent home on Wednesday 21st December for grade 10's and on Monday 19th December for grade 7's, 8's and 9's.

You can learn more about school reports by watching the video accessed through the QR code or view the links below:

• School Reports FAQs
• Understanding the 9-point scale         
• Visit the Department of Education’s website at: Reporting - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)