Dear Burnie High School Community,

What an exceptional start to the 2024 school year we have experienced! The delightful weather has set a positive tone, and the atmosphere within the school is one of happiness and positivity. Despite a minor wave of Covid affecting some students and teachers in the initial three weeks of the term, this year has felt remarkably more normal than the past few. We eagerly anticipate working closely with our students and families throughout 2024, striving to make it a successful year for all.

New Staff

We are delighted to welcome a dynamic mix of experienced and aspiring teachers to our staff this year. A warm greeting to Mr Zak Barber, Ms Grace Lozoraitis-Jones, Mr James King, and Mrs Rachel Coxan. From my conversations with our new teachers, it's clear they are enjoying their start at Burnie High. Welcome also to Mrs Ali Dallas who has joined our admin team.

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all students who participated in the 2024 Burnie High Swimming Carnival this week. The weather was truly splendid, matched by enthusiastic participation. Kudos to the Grade Swimming Champions and Runners Up, who will be honoured at our next whole school assembly. A special shout-out to Mr Andrew Rolls, Ms Zoe Gee, Mr Kamil Douglas, and Mr Brad Poulter, who excelled in the house relay event!

Grade 7 Meet and Greet

Grade Leaders Mr Ben Lohrey and Miss Maree Welsh invite all Grade 7 students and families to a free barbecue Meet and Greet on Wednesday, 13 March, between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm. This informal event provides families an opportunity to meet and chat with teachers in a relaxed setting. We hope to see as many Grade 7 families as possible.

Attendance

Emphasising the importance of consistent attendance, I addressed students at our first whole school assembly in Week 2. Research consistently highlights attendance as the most robust predictor of academic achievement. Remarkably, missing just 10 percent of the school year can have a tangible, negative impact on overall performance. To put it in perspective, that 10% in Term 1 equates to just four days – four days that can make a considerable difference.

Maintaining an attendance rate of 90% or above is not only commendable but also achievable for most students. This year, the school will provide parents/carers with regular updates about their child’s attendance rate, starting with the Term 1 Progress Report at the end of March. The Burnie High School way is marked by great achievement, so let's make 2024 a year of enviable attendance, learning, and sporting success for all.

School Uniform

I extend my gratitude to parents for ensuring our students are well presented in the school uniform. This high standard of dress and personal presentation is valued by our student and parent body and frequently noted by visitors to our school and the general public.

Together, let's make 2024 a year to remember at Burnie High School

Trudy Durkin

Principal

Contacts:

Burnie High School Animal and Agriculture Studies classes have hit the ground running this year! Hot off a very warm and dry summer we are making the most of what’s left of the summer crops. We still have more beetroot, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins and carrots to harvest as well as more broccoli, cauliflower, grapes and a few other goodies.

During the holidays corn, lettuces and cucumbers and a variety of delicious berries were in abundance with several community groups receiving much of these as well as a few students and their families. Several jams and relishes were also made.

We said goodbye to Lenore and Lydia and filled the freezer with a selection of pork cuts and sausages. We now welcome to the farm Bertha and Bessie. 

(Photo 1: We have grown a pineapple in the hothouse – 2 years. Shyanna, Rachael, Hosea, Liam, Chet and Hunter say hello to Bertha and Bessie. Nash and Jem spreading mulch in the duck yard).

We will be processing about 24 turkeys in a month or so, ready to re-stock the freezer with more BBQ goodies and roasts for students to enjoy.

BHS has received a huge amount of bark / tree mulch and this is keeping students active, beautifying the farm grounds and filling the yards and sheds with the mulch – it will be great for when the rain comes, decreasing run-off and muddy spots.

(Photo 2: Tobe fills the trailer with mulch. Grade 9 girls meet and greet Bertha and Bessie. Arthur the Celebrity Guard Chook looks on at his new charges.).

The classes are full of enthusiastic learners ready to work and grow food and engage in maths and science through practical hands-on applications. We will re-introduce a hydroponics module this year as well as growing our crops from seed in the hothouse to transplant in the garden. We welcome back Kitty and Maryanne after their well – deserved break and continue to thank and appreciate the amazing Bryan Cunningham who has assisted me above and beyond during the school holidays.

Ms Steph Prendergast 

This program is now called ECLEP (Enterprise and Community Learning Engagement Program). ECLEP has two groups this year – Monday Paddock to Plate Enterprise and Tuesday Community Contribution activities.

(Photo 1 – Egg and Bacon Muffins, Cauliflower Cheese, Egg, Ham and Spinach pie and Potato Bake)

Students are using foods from the farm to make freshly cooked and nutritious meals to sell at our school canteen. The students will distribute surveys to students which can be filled out to determine the most popular meals/snacks we can create and sell at the canteen on a Tuesday. We picked some cauliflower, spinach, onions and rhubarb (amongst other things), used bacon and eggs and ham from our school pigs to create some basic meals. Students look forward to collaborating with the school cafeteria to engage effectively in enterprise learning.

(Photo 3 – James and Maklen, Mitch, and James, Maklen, Mitch, Hunter and Blake) - We are back on deck assisting at the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden this year. At this stage we have a small group of boys – Mitch, Maklen, James, Blake and Hunter. These boys are currently maintaining the Japanese section of the garden, it is a beautiful and peaceful place for us to contribute to the community each week. As Autumn approaches and the leaves change colour, we can appreciate the beauty of nature whilst working hard.

Ms Steph Prendergast 

Our Home Ec Department are currently seeking donations of empty clean ice cream containers to lend to students on days where they are cooking and have food to take home and forget to bring a container of their own. We thank you for your assistance with this. 

Our School will be switching over to a new messaging platform for communicating with you.   This will replace our current system MGM.

The new platform, called EdSmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging i.e. SMS and emails. For now, it will be used to manage absences messages i.e. you will receive a SMS or email alert if your child is absent from school requesting a response.  It will also allow us to send a communication message to all parent/guardians.

The platform will, over time, be rolled out across all Tasmanian Government Schools and new features will be added. 

You will receive a text message and/or an email with further details.  Note, the text message sender will be a shortened version of our school’s name - Please keep an eye out for it!

Further information is available on the Department’s website

Communicating with your child's school - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)