Dear Burnie High School Community,

Here we are at the end of the Term 1 already!

It has been a very busy start to the year and there has been much to celebrate.

Staffing News

At the end of this term Ms Anne McCulloch will be embarking on a richly deserved retirement.

Ms McCulloch has been a member of the Burnie High School staff for around 25 years. She has primarily taught English, History and Geography as well as being a valued long-standing member of the Burnie High School leadership team. We wish Ms McCulloch great enjoyment as she fulfils her love of travel, adventure, and family.

Next, we celebrate the remarkable career of Mrs Maree Glover, who will also be retiring at the end of this term. We thank Mrs Glover for her unwavering commitment to excellence in the teaching of Mathematics and Science at Burnie High School. I believe that Mrs Glover has taught at Burnie High School for around 28 years. We wish Mrs Glover all the best as she sets sail in the coming months to escape the Tasmanian winter. Thank you, Mrs Glover, for your service to Burnie High School.

Lastly but certainly not least, we acknowledge Mr Mark Saint-John, who will be taking extended leave during Term 2 and 3 before his retirement. As the head of our MDT department, Mr Saint-John has been instrumental in nurturing practical skills and instilling strong work ethics in countless students over his almost 20 years at Burnie High School. We wish Mr Saint-John great happiness as he undertakes the many projects he has lined up at home.

I will be taking Long Service Leave for Term 2. I am happy to announce that Mr James Thompson has been appointed as the Acting Principal for this period.

Also taking a period of extended leave is Ms Kirsty Yates from our school administration team. Ms Yates will commence maternity leave from the end of this week, we wish her well in this new and exciting role.

Inter High Swimming Carnival

On Wednesday 27 March I was thrilled to spend the day with our Burnie High Swim Team as they competed at the 2024 Inter High Swimming Championships. Thank you to Mr Pursell and Miss Jones who organised, encouraged, and cared for our swimmers on the day. Congratulations to the Burnie High team who were the overall Division A champions. In second place were Latrobe High school and Ulverstone Secondary College came third. Thank you to the swimmers for holding onto the Championship for yet another year. Congratulations to Inter High champions Ethan Mott and Amarli Palmer, and Runners Up Hudson Bain and Mason Jose.

Trudy Durkin 

Principal

Last night, two students represented Burnie High at Rostrum Voice of Youth public speaking competition. 

Chelsea spoke on the topic 'Age is no Barrier', and Ada chose to speak about 'The End of an Era'. Both students went on to speak in the impromptu section, where 15 minutes is given to write a 3 minute speech. 

Both students worked incredibly hard leading up to the competition and achieved fantastic results.  Ada won her heat and will represent NW Tasmania in the state finals in June. Chelsea also did well, winning the Encouragement Award in her heat. 

A fantastic effort! We wish Ada good luck in the state final.

On Sunday, April 14, I’ll be heading overseas for two weeks as part of the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize Tour with a group of 6 Tasmanian students.  The opportunity to represent Burnie High School, and Tasmania at the Anzac Day service at Villers-Bretonneux is a privilege not extended to many, and I am incredibly grateful to the Burnie High School community for their continued support in my commitment to the Frank MacDonald Prize.

This year, I will be paying tribute to Frederick Francis Townsend MM, a soldier from the Burnie area, who enlisted underage and died in the fields of Belgium.  Frederick is a relative of several family friends, and as a bonus, he’s also connected to a current student of mine.

The Frank MacDonald Prize is a prestigious award, and recognises the sacrifices of so many lives given during the duration of WWI.  I encourage current Year 9 students to consider applying for this Prize, as the educational program of the tour is an experience not possible through the four walls of a classroom.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with the wider school community in Term 2, and sharing my many stories with my classes in the coming years.

Mrs Emma Cohen

During Week 10 the Grade 9s have been finishing off their Physics unit on Heat and Light. Students participated in a cow eye dissection to understand the components of the eye and how they look and work as well as to work safely and collaborate with each other. Many students were apprehensive at first, but really got involved and enjoyed the whole process. A few nurses, farmers, doctors, butchers in the making!

Miss Crocker

Monday April 8 marked the grand opening of the new Burnie Waterfront Maths Activities. To celebrate the launch a selection of Burnie High School and its feeder primary school students enjoyed a BBQ lunch and got to tour the new activities, all located on the Burnie Foreshore.

The development is a collaborative effort between Australian Schools Plus, the Burnie Council, the Tasmanian Community Fund (TCF), and Burnie Counts. The new activities on the Burnie Waterfront, include a large compass showing the distance to world landmarks, a height chart to compare your height to a celebrity, a sea creature measurement path showing the size of some of the ocean’s largest creatures and a human sized Snakes and Ladders board complete with spinner.

These innovative activities help engage students with learning in a fun, interesting way, showing them that not all learning has to happen in the classroom.

Earlier in March Burnie High Student Isobel competed at the 2024 National Skeet Championship. At the end of the week, she was presented with a gold in the Champion of Champions for C Grade. This medal was based upon the last 25 targets of the 100 in each of the events. Well done, Isobel!