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- Principal's Report
- Subject in Focus - Science
- Riverside High Athletics Carnival
- Equestrian Team
- Visual Art Excursion to MONA
- Girls Cricket Blast Schools Cup
- Touch Football National Teams
- Outstanding Student Achievement - Nicholas 9E
- Exceptional Student Achievement - Isabelle 7G
- Prefect's Report
- Diabetes Awareness "Lap The Map" Walk - Sunday 17th November
Dear Parent and Families,
It is hard to believe that we are now into November and the end of the year is fast approaching. I would like to commend students on the focus that they are showing towards their work and their commitment to ensuring that they get the most out of this valuable learning time. We also have some other important events and activities coming up on our school calendar and I encourage students to participate actively in these.
Transition is a priority in Term 4. This includes Grade 6 students from our associate schools who are visiting us to support their transition to high school and build relationships with key staff along with many of our Grade 9 students who are supporting transition. Similarly, some of our Grade 10 students are also making extra visits to the colleges to support their pathway planning and a smooth transition to a Year 11 environment. I appreciate the extra work that many staff are doing to support students and meet individual needs.
Our Grade 7 Leader for 2020 will be Mr Jesse Fyfe. Mr Fyfe is working alongside Mrs Matkovich, who leads our Transition Program. They are currently involved in visits to schools, getting to know students, planning for Orientation Day and setting up for a successful start for our incoming Grade 6 cohort.
Prefect candidates for 2020 have now been informed of the outcome of this process. I commend all of our students who put themselves forward, we acknowledge your courage and willingness to contribute as student leaders. Congratulations to those who were successful; this is an exciting time for you and we look forward to your valuable contribution as leaders in our school. Opportunities for Grade 9 students to apply for the role of Peer Mentor are now open and I encourage aspiring leaders in Grade 9 to consider this important leadership position. A formal announcement of both Prefects and Peer Mentors will be made in coming weeks.
Congratulations
A huge congratulations to Amelia 9D who was recently announced as a recipient of the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize. During this process Amelia had to submit an essay on World War I. Following this being shortlisted, Amelia went through an interview process in Hobart. Amelia has gained one of six places offered to Grade 9 students from Tasmania and next year will travel to Belgium and France including Villers Bretonneux as part of the commemoration of ANZAC Day. She will be expected to speak publicly, be an ambassador for our state and work with the team from Australia. This is an outstanding achievement which was recognised at a special celebration last Friday in Ulverstone, where the Hon. Guy Barnett made a presentation to the team, including presenting Amelia with a Shield which will be displayed in our foyer.
Congratulations to Gabrielle 10B who has been shortlisted in Poetry Object 2019. Gabrielle has written a poem entitled Superhero. You can read the shortlist and vote on the People’s Choice following the links below. Well done Gabrielle; we look forward to the winners being announced at the end of the month.
Vote for the people’s choice award
In our last Newsletter we had an article about the Learning Services Northern Region Presentation to celebrate with students who were recognised at The DoE Students Awards. Please find below some more photos.
Yesterday a number of our students performed musical items at Trevallyn Primary School’s ‘Be Brave and Shave’ fundraiser, held at the Tailrace Centre. Trevallyn Primary School have done a wonderful job of raising a large amount of money to support CanTeen and it was great to have our students support the school with this important cause. Well done to all involved!
Capital Works
On Thursday morning I enjoyed attending Riverside Primary School’s Opening of their Capital Works. The primary school has some wonderful new facilities and it was great to see them being showcased and celebrated.
The West Tamar Community is very lucky to be gaining some many wonderful new facilities for our young people.
Our Capital Works Project is continuing full steam ahead with the focus being on the completion of the new building in our former bus turning circle and adjoining B Block. This is a huge building that comprises a new administration area, support services, meeting spaces, along with a new cafeteria and library. Essentially all of the spaces that are shared by our whole school community are located in this central hub. The upstairs area is our new senior school, with general learning areas, an IT lab and some flexible spaces for individual and small group learning. This will be a contemporary space that will provide our students and staff with great learning facilities. This area is due to be completed early next year; we look forward to providing further details on this closer to the date. The photos included tell the story of the scale of this work.
In Closing
A reminder that our Athletics Carnival will be held next Thursday and Friday at Windsor Park. A huge amount of effort goes into preparing for this day and I would like to thank our HPE team for their thorough planning and team work to prepare for this event.
A reminder that carnivals are an important part of our learning program and therefore we have high expectations with regards to student attendance and respectful and positive participation on these days. Please refer to the information included over the page for further details about the day including arrangements and directions for students getting safely to and from the carnival at Windsor Park. I hope you are able to make it along to watch some of the carnival as it promises to be a great 2 days.
It was an absolute pleasure to attend the Launceston College Graduation Evening on Wednesday. It was wonderful to celebrate the progress and success of so many Year 12 students. I was very proud to see a large number of former Riverside High School students acknowledged in the special prizes and I congratulate them on their achievements and their academic success. We send our best wishes to all of the Grade 12 students, as they complete their exams and move on to the next stage in their life. At a time of year when we are all so busy, I was glad I had made the time to attend as it was a great reminder to me of how inspiring our young people are!
Ms Natalie Odgers
This year has seen students involved in a variety of different science based activities. We have had a number of students enter the Big Science Competition and the Science and Engineering Challenge. STEM based activities were delivered during Science week, to students in Grades 7, 8 and 9, as Grade 10 were completing their exams. Due to this year being the 50th Anniversary of the first landing on the moon, all of the activities offered were related to the moon landing or rockets in some way.
The introduction of a new Science elective has been a highlight this year, with Environmental Science being offered for the first time. In this course students have had the opportunity to use technology to take measurements, make predictions and investigate our local environment. We have also maintained our Forensic Science option class, which has been equally as popular with students.
The end of this year will see students engage with STEM based activities, continuing their Science based learning until the end of term.
Below are pictures from Mr Jacob’s science classes, featuring work from Grades 7 and 9.
Ms Kylie Jago
Riverside High Athletics Carnival
14th & 15th November 2019
Windsor Park Precinct
Riverside High’s Annual Athletics Carnival is being held at the Windsor Park Precinct on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th November. Students are required to attend both days as per the Department of Education attendance guidelines.
Arriving at the venue – students who catch buses from the West Tamar direction (Legana, Grindelwald etc.) will be dropped off by their normal buses at Windsor Park. Students can also be dropped off at Windsor Park by parents.
Students who arrive at school either by bus, walking or parents are to walk via St Anthony’s Primary School to get to Windsor Park. Teachers will also walk to Windsor Park this way.
When students arrive at Windsor Park they are required to line up in their Home Groups outside the Launceston Football Clubrooms by 8:35am.
The format of the carnival is a tabloid. Students will move around events in gender specific grade groups e.g. Grade 7 boys, Grade 9 girls.
There will be a canteen and BBQ available throughout both days, however, students are encouraged to bring additional food to maintain their energy levels and lots of water to ensure they remain hydrated over the two days.
Students are encouraged to dress in their house colours. If students intend to dress up, they must do so in a manner that doesn’t impede their participation.
Students are also encouraged to wear a hat, sunglasses, apply sunscreen regularly and utilise the shade on both days. Students should also bring warm clothing for changing weather conditions.
For each event there are two divisions, students who wish to gain championship points or attempt to make the Riverside Inter-High Athletics team need to enter in Division 1.
If there are any students who wish to help staff set up for the carnival, they are more than welcome to arrive at Windsor Park at 7:30am.
Families are very welcome to come and watch their children participate over the two days.
If you have any questions please contact the School Admin or Mr Toby Musovic at toby.musovic@education.tas.gov.au
The program for the two days is as follows:
Program of Events
DAY 1 – Thursday 14th November
DAY 2 – Friday 15th November
The Equestrian team have competed in a variety of events this year such as the All Schools Gymkhana, Show Jumping and Dressage Competitions. In general the team consisted of Skye 9E, Lydia 7A and Amy 7F. All Equestrian team members are very committed to their sport and have proudly and professionally represented their school. Great work girls!
Gymkhana
The Gymkhana was held on Sunday, 15th September, at the Deloraine Show Grounds. Amy, Lydia and Skye, attended and at this Gymkhana there was a show ring, games and show jumping.
Dressage
Amy 7F attended this Dressage Competition on her horse Dobby. This dressage day was held on Saturday, 21st September, at the Westbury Show Grounds. Amy rode in two dressage tests on Saturday, her horse was a bit excited at the start but they both got through it.
Show Jumping
The Show Jumping Competition was held at the Westbury Show Grounds on Sunday, 22nd September. Amy, Lydia and Skye represented Riverside High School. All three girls rode in the 50cm and 65cm Show Jumping classes. In the 50cm Skye jumped clear and made it through to the next round and ended up placing 1st, with Lydia placing 3rd and Amy 4th. In the 65cm all girls jumped clear, Lydia made it through to the next round, placing 5th.
A big thank you must be given to the parents/families of the riders. Equestrian is a sport that requires so much commitment and these events are not possible without the support of riders’ families. Thank you to the Furlonge family for supporting the students and also assisting with the running of the events.
Good luck with your future Equestrian endeavours!
Miss Bonnie Hall
Last week, 34 of our Grade 10 Visual Art students, along with 3 teachers, travelled by bus to the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) in Hobart.
Although I have visited MONA before with my family, I really enjoyed exploring the museum with my friends and seeing their reactions to some of the exhibits I like and dislike. There was quite a few new exhibits this year including a confronting piece of photography based on flowers made up of unusual and very strange objects.
I really liked that we were able to wander around at our pace and that I had my friends with me to talk to about specific pieces. I think it is a very worthwhile exhibition for us to visit as I was able to get many ideas for my own work and be inspired by other artists. There is just so much “different” art there, I would never have experienced otherwise. I love reading about each work and the motivation behind it.
It was also great to stop in at McDonalds, have some lunch and reflect on everything we saw.
Zoë 10C
Girls Cricket Blast Schools Cup
On a very warm and sunny day on Thursday, 24th October, Riverside High School entered 3 teams into the Girls Cricket Blast Schools Cup held at the NTCA ground. Many of the girls had never really played cricket before and the day was an opportunity to give the sport a go, have fun and compete against other schools. The girls rotated through the fielding positions, with every player bowling one over each and each batting pair facing 2 overs. All the teams played three games on the day.
The Grade 8 girls were keen to get started and the three Riverside teams were entered into different pools of the competition. All the teams enjoyed themselves and scored lots of runs and there was also some excellent fielding on show. The RHS 1 team won all of their games including the Grand Final of their pool resulting in an invitation to compete at the State Competition in Hobart.
Well done to all the girls involved:
RHS 1
Ashlee 8G |
Isabel 8E |
Tori 8B |
Annique 8F |
Kara 8F |
Holly 8D |
Emily 8D |
Eva 8D |
|
RHS 2
Maggie 8A |
Madeline 8B |
Sky 8G |
Brianna 8C |
Brooke 8C |
Ava 8C |
Nikki 8C |
|
|
RHS 3
Ivy 8F |
Alice 8F |
Bree 8F |
Anya 8F |
Mariska 8C |
Minah 8C |
Chloi 8C |
Jenna 8C |
|
Miss Rachael Smith
On Sunday, 27th October, the seven of us along with our team and the Under 12 Girls team travelled to Canberra to compete in the 2019 SSA Competition. The first day was tough but all teams worked and played hard for each other. Games were also played on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday was the Educational Excursion Day, the Under 12s went to Questacon and the Under 15s went to the War Memorial and the AIS.
Friday was Finals day but unfortunately the Under 15 Boys were not playing due to there being only 7 teams in their competition draw but they were there on the sidelines supporting all the other three Tassie teams represented in Finals. At the end of the competition the Under 12 Girls finished 7th, Under 12 Boys finished 6th, Under 15 Girls finished 4th and Under 15 Boys finished 7th.
Well done to all students involved:
Under 15 Boys
Zavier 9D |
Jacob 7C |
Ryan 9B |
Under 12 Boys
Jordan 7H |
Under 15 Girls
Emma 9E |
Bree 8F |
Emily 8D |
Emily 8D
Outstanding Student Achievement - Nicholas 9E
We wish to congratulate Nicholas on the incredible success he has recently enjoyed as a musician. Nicholas attended The Derwent Valley Spring Music School in the recent holidays where he performed with the senior concert band as their 1st Trombonist and learnt how to conduct.
At the end of the school, Nicholas was awarded the Senior Scholarship of the entire camp. This scholarship welcomes Nicholas to perform with The Derwent Valley Concert Band whenever he is able to and also pays his camp fees for the next year.
Nicholas recently auditioned for The Aviva Scholarship for the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra. He was successful and will be having lessons with the Principal Trombonist, plus opportunities to play alongside the orchestra! Well done Nicholas!
Mrs Susan Matkovich
Exceptional Student Achievement - Isabelle 7G
We are very proud of the success which Isabelle has recently enjoyed. In the last week of third term Isabelle competed in the local Flanagan and Chugg Taekwondo Tournament and was successful in all her events. The instructors allowed Isabelle to enter the Open Sparring for the first time. The closest person in age to Isabelle was 22 years old! Isabelle gained 3rd place which was a wonderful effort.
Isabelle also recently competed in The 24th CCP ISKA Australian Open in Sydney. She entered five events in the 12 to 13 year old female age group. Isabelle achieved the following incredible results in this Australia wide competition:
4th In Traditional Forms
3rd in Clash Sparring
2nd in Sumo
1st in Point Sparring 2019 Champion (No-one scored a point against her!)
1st Continuous Sparring 2019 Champion
We wish to congratulate Isabelle on her amazing success!
Mrs Susan Matkovich
Jessica and Patrick, your Kingsford Smith Health and Wellbeing Prefects here! We are very keen for our final term at Riverside High School. There are so many exciting things to look forward to! It is not long until our last sporting carnival for the year and we hope to bring home a victory for Kingsford Smith.
Basketball Roster
After its previous success, the Health and Wellbeing Prefects have been hard at work organising the Term 4 lunch time basketball roster. We hope it gains as much passion in the coming weeks as it did in the past. Points from the basketball roster will go towards the House Cup. The roster is posted around the school. You can’t miss it.
Grade 9/10s play Mondays and Fridays, while grade 7/8s play Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure you come along and support your house. Even if you don’t want to play come and watch, all welcome!
If the last basketball roster was anything to go by, this one is going to be a big one so make sure you get down to the gym to join in on the action.
Athletics Carnival
All Health and Wellbeing Prefects are organising our house speeches for the upcoming Athletics Carnival in Week 5, as well as House Prefect activities that will take place on the day. Everyone is hoping their house will bring home victory in our last carnival for 2019 at Riverside High School.
The Athletics Carnival is two days jam packed with fun, activity, exercise, laughter and competition! Once again, throughout the carnival, the Prefects will be selling house-coloured doughnuts for $2.50 each so remember to bring along your spare change.
Logo Competition
The House Logo Competition ran throughout the year and yielded some amazing results! House T-Shirts can be purchased from the Uniform Shop for $18 each.
Academic Carnival
Following its success last year, our Academic Prefects, Jaiden and Megan, are looking to run an Academic Carnival this term. If sport isn’t your thing (or even if it is your thing), this Academic Carnival will be perfect for all, full of fun activities to challenge your thinking, so watch this space.
Arts Week
Later this term, our Arts Prefects, Daniel and Eliza, are going to run the ever-popular Arts Week. This year they have a lot of amazing events to fill the week, so keep your eyes peeled for further information closer to the date.
Weekly Mindbenders
To brighten up the daily Home Group, Junior School Prefects, Gabriel and Esther, have started the Weekly Mindbenders for Grade 7.
For 6 weeks, each Home Group will receive a Mindbenders sheet with trivia, celebrity who am I and a word game which they have a week to work through. The highest-scoring Home Group will receive a reward of a hot chip lunch. We hope each Home Group works hard together at this new task.
Diabetes Awareness "Lap The Map" Walk - Sunday 17th November
On Sunday, 17th November, the Riverside Lions Club will be holding a walk and activities to focus on diabetes awareness in our community.
The event will focus on Tailrace Park in Riverside commencing at 11:00am.
There will be a walk from the Tailrace to the Paterson Street Bridge and back, approximately 4 km in total. Everyone is encouraged to walk, and children, bikes, scooters and pushers are very welcome.
Lions Clubs across Australia are conducting similar walks and each walker who participates will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the walk. The total of kilometres walked will be added to all the other walkers across the country and that will hopefully total the distance around our entire continent (25,000km!).
Those wishing to participate in the walk are encouraged to bring lunch, plenty to drink and sunscreen.
There will also be free diabetes self-assessment tests provided.
This is an event where everyone can participate and everyone is welcome.