Ms Durkin is currently on Long Service Leave to attend the wedding of one of her sons in sunny Queensland. The school community hopes that she has a restful break and the wedding is a joyous occasion spent with family and friends. Ms Durkin will be on Long Service Leave until 7 May. In her absence the BHS Senior Leadership team will consist of Ms Sheree Hodgetts, Mr James Thompson and Mr Brett Riley.

Staffing Changes

I would like to inform you of several staffing changes for Term 2 2021. Mrs Fiona Gaby has accepted the position of Acting Principal at Devonport High School for Term 2 2021. Ms Sheree Hodgetts will be back filling the vacated Assistant Principal position at BHS for this time.

Ms Hodgetts’ Grade 10 Science classes will be taken by Mr Brett Riley, Ms Hodgetts will continue to take her Grade 10 Maths classes. Mr Brad Poulter will teach the Grade 8 Forensic Science class.

Mrs Carly Dilger (nee Banfield) returns from leave and will be taking Mr Brad Poulter’s HPE classes.

Mr Brad Poulter will take responsibility for Mr Brett Riley’s Grade 9 Maths and Science classes for Term 2 while Mr Riley undertakes specialist BHS curriculum development. Mr Poulter will be on leave from BHS for Terms 3 and 4. At this time Mr Riley will resume those classes.

 NAPLAN

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students have already learnt through the school curriculum. Teachers will ensure that students are familiar with the test formats and will provide appropriate support and guidance. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress. Further information is contained in this newsletter.   

Real world Experiences

One of the fantastic traits of Burnie High School is the dedication our staff have in arranging extra opportunities for students to engage in learning experiences outside of the normal curriculum. Our school calendar is bursting with opportunities for students to participate in a variety of activities which include a visiting top Tasmanian chef in Home Economics classes and a creative writing workshop and presentation for Grade 9/10 students with Australian author Phillip Gwynne. Phillip is known to be a very engaging speaker and for his appeal to all students, particularly those who don’t like reading! A select number of students will participate in a brick laying program delivered by TasTAFE, whilst some students who study MDT will be participating in a private Master Builders workshop over two days. Further to this, we currently have some students on work placement with local businesses, learning through on the job training. These are just some of the experiences offered to students this term.  I look forward to hearing what students have learnt from these opportunities.

 Grade 6 Transition Program and Parent Information Evening

Our 2022 Grade 7 Student Support Leaders are Mr Joshua Salter and Miss Eloise Crocker. Mr Salter and Miss Crocker have begun planning the transition process for students currently in Grade 6 at our feeder primary schools. A Parent Information Evening will be held at the school on Wednesday May 26. Further information and details on how to register for the event will be made available in the near future.

 After school and weekend work 

Many opportunities open up for our young people once they reach high school. One such opportunity is gaining casual weekend and afterschool work. Whilst the benefits of gaining employment are many and include the development of communication and collaboration skills, ability to problem solve, as well as managing personal budgets and spending; research suggests that working too many hours has a negative effect on student learning. Students who are working over 20 hours per week risk becoming disengaged from their schooling and falling behind academically. Achieving a work-life balance is important for all of us and we kindly ask that parents consider the number of hours their teenager is working on a weekly basis, and support them to ensure that these hours are not impacting on their sleep and/or study time. 

Grade 7 Activity Days!

^{by Giarna Knowles and Aylah Gregson}

^{At the end of Term 1, the whole of Grade 7 had two activity days as, due to COVID-19, we were unable to hold the traditional camp. All of the Grade 7 students made the most of the two days that we had set aside which I think we all agree was a fun time for everyone.}

^{On the first morning, we started the day with creating our banners, with each class team creating names and team chants. We then went out to the basketball courts where Mr Warsing, with some help from other teachers, organised small challenges to earn points for each class. The challenges included kicking a football into a target and wheelbarrow relay.}

^{After recess, classes were split up in rotations, which included water volleyball, games in the gym with help from the SRC and affirmations. The affirmations were designed for making someone feel accepted.}

^{After lunch, we watched Raya and the Last Dragon. All of us Grade 7’s really enjoyed the movie, it was a good time for relaxing.  Once the school day ended, we had the Grade 7 social in the evening. The theme was BHS and all of the costumes and ideas were amazing.  We had games and competitions organised by the SRC and Mr Lohrey had created a playlist filled with music. The playlist had songs with popular dance routines that we all knew, with the bright flashing lights in the room setting the party scene. The social created lots of memories and laughter, this was a great way to wrap up the first day.}

^{On the second day, which was our last activity day, we had different rotations that were run throughout the day. The rotations included indoor lawn balls, the amazing race, which was held by the SRC, and lastly the zorb balls the bungee run.}

^{Everyone enjoyed these two great days, but it wouldn’t have happened without all of the amazing help from our SRC and teachers.}

^{So, on behalf of Grade 7 we would just like to say a big thank you!}

Last term STEAMA covered a broad range of problem solving, technology, environmental based science, laboratory experiments and artistic endeavours. Students used their maths skills to solve geometric problems, investigated the water cycle and the properties of water, collected rainfall data from the school farm and commenced collating this using Microsoft excel, germinated seeds in different conditions and attempted to produce cosmetics as well as using Publisher to create labels for their products!!

Suffice to say – it was a huge learning curve for students, me and Sally our laboratory technician for a variety of reasons!! First and foremost – too many choices, the odd equipment malfunction, time constraints and following instructions, springs to mind!!

               Aden & Jack                                               Mcrae & Rohan 

However, we soldiered on and some students managed to make a good product, such as Samm’s Rose Hand Cream and many just had a heap of fun learning what works and what doesn’t in a Science Lab…. Rule number 1 to 100 is to follow the recipe (just like in a kitchen!!) whilst keeping safe. We look forward to attempting this again later in Term 2, in the meantime building an Electric Car is our challenge and reporting on our Snow Pea seed germination!!

Samm’s Rose Hand Cream.

Steph Prendergast – Grade 7 STEAM.

BHS AGRICULTURE STUDIES.

Sapphire feeding Francesca some bird damaged apples.

This year we have 2 Grade 8 Agriculture Classes and 2 Grade 9/10 Agriculture Classes. We continue to enjoy the support of our fabulous Student Mentor and volunteer Bryan Cunningham, our Garden and Grade 8 Student Support Assistant, Leanne Coates and our amazing Horticulture Manager and Student Mentor Maryanne McDonald. We have welcomed former BHS student Matt Horton to the team supporting students in small machinery use and safety as well as farm maintenance. All of these members of our team have face to face contact for a few hours per week but spend a lot more time volunteering behind the scenes and during school holidays to make our Agriculture Studies program work and meet the needs of students.

Matt, Asha, Leila, Maddie & Meisha.                     Bryan with the boys.

We have had a huge summer on the farm with the production of several bumper crops of broccoli, cauliflower and corn…. All of which were ready a week either side of students actually being at school!! The season has been a fickle one for all our produce whether it be apples and plums (plentiful) or cherries and peaches (none). Pumpkins were not happy this year but zucchinis were – we found it hard to house them!! Students from the Home Economics department as well as Agriculture Studies have all had access to and been able to use our fresh farm produce. We continue to donate surplus produce to local churches and charitable organisations on the basis of availability and assist families at our school with provision of fresh seasonal vegetables and fruit.

     

Imogen with “surrogate” silkie chick.    Leone our White Turkey – RIP.

Students have had a fun time learning at the farm as well as working. A lot of farming activity revolves around maintaining and sustaining as well as producing something that we can use – whether it be eating, wearing or sheltering us.

Melaiyne and Ms. P treat our Aracauna pullets (Melaiyne and Taya) with a preventative mite treatment after successfully calming (hypnotising) them.

We have had a hectic start to the year due to a short term, several whole school activities and the abundance of students engaging in this subject but it is so very satisfying to know that our young people are keen to learn about where our food and fibre comes from!! There is so much this subject has to offer in terms of cross curricular learning and future pathways.

If you live in a house, wear clothes and ate a meal today…. Thank a farmer!!

Steph Prendergast – Agriculture Teacher.

These are the Grade 8 Story Pots, an Aboriginal focussed unit where the students look at the work of the Hermannsburg Potters for inspiration. The students were then to create and tell their own stories on vessels. - Ms Michelle Walker

This week our Senior Foods classes welcomed Kate Hambleton from the Tasmanian Hospitality Association. Kate grew up and worked in northern Tasmania before heading off to Europe to further her career as a chef and follow her lifelong dream of overseas travel.

Kate spoke with our students regarding the many and varied job and career opportunities within the hospitality industry and gave our young people advice and pathway options that are open to them.

Ms Georgina Smith

The school year got off to a great start for Grade 9. Term 1 saw students in in new surroundings in the Grade 9 plaza, in new home rooms and with all new options. Students were also exposed to more opportunities around work readiness. Mas Career Services attended Burnie High and spoke with the Grade 9 cohort around resumes and will continue working with students this term. Also this term students will get further exposure to future pathways at the Youth Expo on May 3. Everyone is looking forward to another great term ahead.

Tim Fisher, Grade 9 Support Leader

Martial Arts: Offering a unique blend of physical and mental training which is a real benefit to children, young adults and the young at heart.

Serving as strong role models - Providing structure, stability and discipline along with the chance to create healthy, lasting relationships with peers.

Rhee Taekwondo is also popular with family groups interested in training together, especially since we train year round.

Well done to all students in 9B and 9F for their work on Literature Circles in Term 1!

Mrs Lauren Wells

“Here are some of the activities our Grade 9 and 10 students participated in during the Science and Engineering Challenge. Students were asked to problem-solve, build structures, and work as a team to complete the different challenges. It was a great day and everyone did a fantastic job. Final scores for the day: 1st Latrobe High (1237.9), 2nd Burnie High (1233.9) and 3rd Penguin District School (1169.1).”