This term has seen our high school students achieve remarkable milestones in both Mathematics and Science. During Science Week, they enthusiastically participated in captivating experiments, embracing a wide array of scientific disciplines that fuelled their curiosity and love for exploration. Additionally, our students contributed to the community through our Revegetation Project, showcasing their commitment to environmental stewardship and hands-on learning.  

In mathematics, they fearlessly tackled complex problem-solving tasks, sharpening their logical thinking abilities in preparation for the Australian Maths Competition. Particular congratulations to students who achieved distinctions: 

Year 7 – Olivia & Alyssa 

Year 8 – Archer 

Year 9 – Eve & Aarden 

Year 10 – Celeste, Antony & Xinlin

Through group projects, they cultivated collaboration and effective communication skills, vital for their future endeavours. This term's accomplishments are a testament to our students' unwavering enthusiasm and dedication to excellence in both mathematics and science. We eagerly anticipate even more exciting adventures in the upcoming term. 

Last week, Year 7 and 9 students helped to revegetate some areas with plants left over from our Science Week activities.

Week 8 was a big week for the 9/10 Outdoor Education classes as they embarked on their Mountain Biking camps. These camps were a culmination of 5 weeks of refining and learning mountain biking skills. They provided students with an opportunity to ride on some of the world’s best trails, investigate a part of the state that they may never have visited and a chance to apply their developing mountain biking skills.

The classes were split into 2 camp groups, one left on Monday 11th September and returned on the Tuesday 12th and the other group departed on the Wednesday 13th September and returned on the Thursday 14th.

Day 1 started with an efficient bus and trailer pack from students and an earlier than normal departure from both groups. After the 50-minute drive we had a quick toilet stop at Scottsdale and sneaky bakery run for Mr Innes.

Both groups participated in an initial ride to ease into the experience. The ride, called Valley Ponds, links the towns of Branxholm to Derby and is roughly 9km. This is a green run and a great way for the students to warm up to the trails. A great way to feel the legs burn early.

This trail led us back to camp and although a little exhausted, the group had lunch and then prepared for a ride around the iconic Derby Lake. Again, this green trail provided a good basis for the group to develop skills on “berms” and negotiating rocks on tracks. If you are unfamiliar with the term “berm” they are trails turned on their sides. They are banked turns and riding through these turns can be super fun but, they can also be intimidating. So, the more practise our group got on these the better. During the rides the groups stopped and discussed how best to ride these and some tips to do so effectively. The end results were students that maintained traction and control while ripping through berms. It was great to see people improve.

A highlight for both camp groups was the adventurous ride to the tunnel. This is a well-known ride at Derby. This tunnel was a mining tunnel that was re-dug to go all the way through, with funky lights to light the way. However, as the first group found out there were a few lights out in the middle which did make for an interesting ride. We also learnt the importance of helmets during this ride, not only for falling off the bike but also if you are a little tall.

Once we returned to the camp and organised our tents etc. the groups then embarked on a walk up the Trouty trail, this is a black run for expert riders, so it was good to walk the group up to discuss the technical side of the track and see the amazing view at the top.

Day 2 saw the group shuttling up to the newest run at Derby, Hazy Days.  This is a family favourite and designed to allow families to access the top of the Derby trail head together, it did not disappoint for our groups and again the introduction of some flowing berms.

Overall, the camps could be deemed a massive success. With students demonstrating an improvement in skill levels, the application of sound camping skills, memories to look back on fondly and some good laughs.

A big thank you to all the parents and guardians for their support of this program. We are very lucky at Queechy to run such a course and provide amazing opportunities for students.

On Friday 22nd September Isabella, Nicol and Millie competed in the 2023 Tasmanina State Final of the Legacy Junior Speaking Award.

This involved preparing and delivering a 5 minute speech relating to one of the ideals of Legacy and then delivering a two minute impromptu speech.

All three girls should be extremely proud of their efforts. They spoke clearly, made eye-contact and delivered an impromptu speech titled Cash or Card providing some strong arguments with clear communication.

The competition is open to students between the ages of 12 – 14. We would love to see more students next year have the confidence to have a go and compete!

Read 6 novels and a picture book 

Remember key details from all 7 books 

Prepare a creative response that includes key information from at least 3 books 

Participate in 6 rounds of quiz questions 

Perform the creative response in front of judges 

Compete against other high schools from around Launceston 

On Friday the 8th of September, four Queechy students competed in the 2023 Northern High Schools Readers’ Cup. These four students, Frankie, Celeste, Dylan and Josh, showed dedication and perseverance in the lead up to the day, and during the competition. Overall, we placed in 4th position. Congratulations to these four students in representing our school.

The 9/10 Child Studies classes have spent the term finding out about birth and caring for newborn babies. 

We have learned about the birthing process, including the different types of birth as well as water births, home births, hospital births and APGAR scores. We enjoyed hearing labour stories from different parents around the school. 

Hands on activities have been a highlight this term. Students have looked at safe sleeping, feeding (including making bottles), learning why babies cry and responding to their needs. Bathing and nappy changing was a great experience for the students, as was taking home the virtual babies. We were very lucky to be able to purchase two new babies for the students to experience time at home with a newborn. It was an overwhelming and eye-opening experience for most. We thank all the ‘Grandparents’ for their support. 

Some child studies students were invited to join the 11/12 playgroup, getting to interact with children from our community.

We also completed a new project, recording and editing podcasts where we role played as interviewers and parents of children with different conditions.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share some fantastic developments in the world of STEM education, and it's particularly thrilling for us at Queechy High School in Launceston, Tasmania.

Have you heard about F1 in Schools?  It's an exhilarating global competition that combines the thrill of Formula 1 racing with cutting-edge technology and engineering. Our students are diving into this amazing initiative, and I couldn't be prouder!

As a teacher passionate about STEM and digital technologies, I believe that these hands-on experiences are invaluable. They empower our students to apply their knowledge, creativity, and teamwork to real-world challenges. 

Stay tuned for updates on our journey in F1 in Schools, and let's cheer on the next generation of engineers, designers, and innovators! 

Results: Second place for P1 in junior pro and second for synergy in senior professional

In drawing and painting this term, students have worked on using watercolour and different mediums on topics of personal interest. I am continually blown away by Queechy, students, creativity, persistence, and hard work in their art option!

I hope that students continue developing their skills in and out of school. Terrific work to those students!

Recently in the 9/10 Drawing class we have been learning how to effectively use oil pastel. Oil pastel is quite a versatile art medium which can be used for drawings where bold use of colour is required. The set of oil pastels we currently have in our supplies at Queechy can also be brushed over with water to create a ‘washed out’ effect.

Norwood Café and Takeaway owners, Jenny and Daniel, have kindly offered to display some of our students artwork in their shop. Grade 10 students Grace and Xinlin are the first to have their work on display at the café. We are very proud of these artists for their commitment to their work in Art – well done.

Please drop by the Norwood Café and Takeaway and view these artworks for yourself. They are open from 8am Tuesday – Sunday.

Thank you to Jenny and Daniel for allowing us to show our students artwork in their café.

In week 9 we had 38 students at Netball Championships up at the Silverdome. The 7/8 girls started off the week with some wins and came in at 5th place. The 9/10 girls had a win in their rostered game and then a win in a final and came in at 7th place overall throughout the day.

The 9/10 boys also came in 7th place at the end of the day. All teams took time to gel on the court but they all put a great amount of effort in and listened to their coaches. The 7/8 Boys have made it to the state final as they were runners up on their day, a huge congratulations to them and good luck! 

We would like to say a massive congratulations to Josh in grade 10 and Rohan in grade 8 as they compete in the 2023 Australian Youth volleyball championships for the under 18 boys team that was held in Bendigo, Victoria last week. Look at the boys wearing their Tasmanian Devils uniform. 

Exams

Our year 10 students have been busy this week completing a number of exams across multiple learning areas. This experience, whilst a bit stressful for some, is a great preparation for the next two years at college. The exams have been very calm and quiet spaces with students fully engaged in the challenge in front of them. Well done to all students and staff involved.

2024 Student Leaders

Last week the school heard from all our year 9 candidates for next year’s Student Leadership Board. Students had all worked hard on creating a 90 second pitch to be shared with all students and staff. I was very impressed with feedback about the day and have followed up with many students who were grateful that it is over but also very appreciative of having the opportunity to share their thinking with others.

Our students will find out the results from this democratic process before they leave for the Term 3 holidays.

Congratulation to all students involved!

F1 in Schools

We had 5 teams competing yesterday in the annual F1 in Schools Challenge on Wednesday. These teams have been working alongside Kaleb Clark this year to help design, make and appraise their racing cars as a team. This competition is still one of the best examples of applied STEM to be found in schools across Australia. The students were buzzing when I visited yesterday, excited to show me their designs and already thinking about how they could improve for next year. We hope to keep all these teams together for the next few years and encourage other students to take up the challenge as well.

Taster Trail

Our year 11/12 program hosted students from across the region last week as a component of the Year 11/12 “Taster Trail”. This opportunity for current year 10 students is a great way to learn about the subjects offered outside the two colleges. Students travelled to other high schools over the remainder of last week to find out more about the programs available.

As always, we work hard to ensure all our year 10 leavers have a plan for their future, something we just can’t leave to chance.