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Dear Parent and Families,
The last two weeks have been an eventful time on our school calendar. It has been fantastic to see enthusiasm and high levels of participation from our students in a range of events and many students being recognised for recent achievements. Term 4 is always busy, but it is an extremely rewarding and enjoyable time of the year.
On the weekend of 9th and 10th November, 8 teams competed in Basketball Tasmania’s Northern Regional Tournament, with a number of our teams achieving considerable success. Well done to all students involved; your team work and support of each other was commendable. A huge thank you to staff and students who coached teams, and staff, students and family members who went along to cheer on our teams. Good luck to those teams competing in the State Final this weekend.
Our Athletics Carnival held last Thursday and Friday was a great two days. While the weather was at times challenging, there was a positive and supportive atmosphere, with high levels of participation and a spirit of sportsmanship. I would like to commend students on their participation and was extremely impressed with their camaraderie and support of each other. We look forward to recognising achievement from our carnival at our whole school assembly next week. A special thank you to all staff, volunteers who assisted and in particular our dedicated HPE team for their efforts to ensure that the carnival was well organised and successful.
During the last fortnight our Grade 10 students have attended enrolment appointments with staff from both Launceston College and Newstead College. I would like to commend Grade 10 students for being well prepared and organised for these conversations. We know that these are important decisions and that much thinking and planning goes into preparing for the enrolment interview. It was also fantastic to see so many of our students’ supported by parents in these appointments. We know that education is a partnership between school and home - your support on enrolment day sent a very strong message to both our young people and the colleges about the value you place on this ongoing partnership. The colleges frequently comment on the strength of this support.
Year 11 and 12
In recent months we have been involved in discussions about the delivery of Year 11 and 12. We are currently working in partnership with both Launceston and Newstead Colleges, along with urban high schools and a number of other high schools located close to Launceston, to explore Year 11 and 12 education. Our purpose is to work as a collective to improve student engagement, retention and attainment in the Launceston urban region. Our data indicates that we have large numbers of students’ who transition well to college and are very successful. We are, however, aware that this pathway does not meet the needs of all of our young people and that as a system we need to be increasing the number of students who are attaining a Year 12 qualification; current discussion is about exploring a range of pathways, both academic and vocational, to increase both retention and attainment.
We have recently completed a Scoping and Partnership Proposal for the Northern Urban Collective, which is a commitment and a proposal to offer a Year 11 and 12 program. This has been supported by our School Association and has now had approval from the Department of Education. Next year we will receive a funding allocation to prepare and plan for implementation, with the view to a provision of Year 11 in 2021 and Year 12 in 2022.
We will continue to work closely with our colleges, with whom we have a great relationship. Students will still be offered the opportunity to enrol at Launceston College or Newstead College. While next year will be about planning for our delivery at Riverside, we are still working through a process, based on student need, to determine what will be on offer. It is our intention to continue to engage with our community, local industries and businesses to improve student outcomes. I will continue to keep you updated as this work progresses next year.
2019 Student Leaders
Recently all Grade 9 students who have worked through our selection process for leadership roles in 2019 received letters notifying them of the outcome of this process. I appreciate that this can be a challenging time for students. I would like to thank the Grade 9 team for the way they have worked with and supported students throughout this process, including the preparation and communication to others, helping to build the understanding of the important role student leaders play in our school, combined with the individual support of students, which along with celebrating success, also includes building resilience and bouncing back when things don’t go our way.
I commend all students for their willingness to contribute to our school as leaders. I would like to share with you the members of our Prefect Board for 2020. Congratulations on your selection to these important roles and we look forward to working with you as our incoming Grade 10 leaders.
Zeik Atkins
Renya Atkins
Cecilia Bence
Jayden Blackwell
Leo Cole
Jordan Cowell
Chelsea Dean
Hari Eri
Maggie Grove
Amelia Hanson
Cameron Howie
Will Hugo
Aponi Hulse
Holli Niland
Caitlin O’Connor
Angus Purtell
Saashay Rowe
Gabrielle Smalldon
Tom Stevenson
Jasmine Waddle
Emma Woods
Uber Eats
We would appreciate it if parents and students were aware that under no circumstances are students to arrange and order deliveries of food through Uber Eats or through any other food outlets. We have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for students and as such all visitors to our school are required, through Department of Education policy, to have a Working with Vulnerable People Card. To ensure student safety we cannot have deliveries on our site that are not signed in through our Administration Office; so we therefore ask that students purchasing food do so through our canteen only. This facility provides an excellent range of food options and will be further enhanced next year when we move into our new cafeteria space. Your support with this will be greatly appreciated.
In closing
Well done to our Arts Prefects who have planned and arranged Arts Week. A range of lunchtime activities have been on offer and have not only showcased student talent, but provided some enjoyable lunchtime activities.
Our Athletics team have competed in the Inter-High Carnival at St Leonards today. Well done to the large team of students who represented our school with pride and a great sense of sportsmanship. We look forward to sharing further details of this event with you in our next newsletter.
With four weeks until the end of term, there is much to look forward to. During these weeks it is important that all students remain focused on using this time to get the very best out of our learning program and that expectations regarding behaviour, uniform, attendance and learning remain high. Your support with this is much appreciated and will contribute to a successful and positive end to our school year.
Ms Natalie Odgers
Subject in Focus - Visual Arts
Why is creativity important in everyday life? It is because it makes our human experience infinitely interesting and fulfilling. Creativity is about living life as a journey into seeing and communicating the extra-ordinariness of the simplest, most every day acts.
Learning through and about the arts enriches the experience of studying while at school as well as preparing students for life after school.
- Arts subjects encourage self-expression and creativity and can build confidence as well as a sense of individual identity.
- Creativity can also help with wellbeing and improving health and happiness – RHS students have told us that their arts lessons were an outlet for releasing the pressures of studying as well as those of everyday life.
- Studying arts subjects also help to develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us.
At Riverside High School we offer a wide variety of experiences in our Visual Art rooms for students.
We follow the structure of and assess against the Australian Curriculum.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/visual-arts/rationale
- Grade 7 have 2 x 75 minute blocks each week. Over the course of their half year, students are exposed to a range of materials, techniques and experiences such as: Acrylic painting, collage, sculpture, photography, digital art, sketching and more. In Grade 7, students are given a “taster” of the Visual Arts and keep an art journal for theoretical planning and some assignments. Students choose to go on and study Art in Grade 8.
- As an option subject in Grade 8, students have 2 x 75 minute blocks each week. They adopt a more disciplined structure in their art lessons and begin to look more closely at their own aesthetic. They push boundaries and explore ways of enhancing their art practice by looking at the work of artists and an assortment of styles/genres.
- In Grade 9 and 10, students also have 2 x 75 minute blocks each week. They are given the opportunity to explore the Visual Arts in detail. In conjunction with class workshops using specific materials along with set tasks and assignments, students are encouraged to develop their own inquiries. They are self-motivated and develop a body of work based on chosen themes, styles and techniques. Studying Visual Arts in Grade 10 will prepare students when making choices around the many Arts subjects on offer in Years 11 and 12.
The Riverside High School Visual Arts Department have had a very busy and productive year. We have moved into our new Art space which is light, airy and spacious. Once again, numbers of students selecting one or more of our classes has increased and we have provided an extra Skate Paint and Drawing class to accommodate this surge of creativity. Our Grade 7 classes have been experimenting with photography, digital art, mixed media collage, water-colour painting, portrait drawing and pastels. Grade 8 have produced a variety of beautiful works, building on their prior knowledge and skills as they expand on and explore a range of themes and concepts. Our Grade 9/10 classes have had the opportunity to focus on developing their aesthetic, creating visual representations that communicate, challenge and express their ideas.
There have been many new displays of work in and around the school as well as several exhibitions at a local bakery, café and other businesses in the CBD. Our students have been involved in competitions throughout the year such as SNAP Photography Competition, The Young Archies and the Celebrating Life Exhibition. Riverside High School Art teachers collaborate with Visual Art staff from all over Tasmania and share resources with a range of schools. We have some incredibly talented, creative and motivated Art students at RHS. They enjoy spending time in the new art rooms as they find it calming and relaxing and an ideal environment in which to create beautiful work.
Mrs Carolyn Saunders
Riverside High Athletics Carnival 2019
Congratulations to Monash on winning the 2019 Athletics Carnival with a total of 5135 points, closely followed by Lawson on 4270, Forrest on 4138 and Kingsford-Smith 3987. Well done to all members of Monash house.
As well as some great House performances, there were a number of outstanding individual performances over the two days of the carnival. As a result there were four records broken. Congratulations to the following students who broke records:
In the past we have recognised the champions and runners-up for each age group. At this year’s carnival a new scoring system was used and it calculates the champions from each day’s competition. They were as follows:
Day 1 Champions:
Grade 7 Girl |
Chelsea 7G |
Kingsford-Smith |
Grade 7 Boy |
Campbell 7F |
Lawson |
Grade 8 Girl |
Kara 8D |
Lawson |
Grade 8 Boy |
Lachlan 8G |
Lawson |
Grade 9 Girl |
Lavinia 9F |
Monash |
Grade 9 Boy |
Lachlan 9F |
Monash |
Grade 10 Girl |
Ella 10A |
Lawson |
Grade 10 Boy |
James 10C |
Monash |
Day 2 Champions:
Grade 7 Girl |
Amelia 7D |
Forrest |
Grade 7 Boy |
Campbell 7F |
Lawson |
Grade 8 Girl |
Kara 8D |
Lawson |
Grade 8 Boy |
Will 8E |
Forrest |
Grade 9 Girl |
Caitlin 9F |
Forrest |
Grade 9 Boy |
Lachlan 9F |
Monash |
Grade 10 Girl |
Aprille 10F |
Kingsford-Smith |
Grade 10 Boy |
Connor 10D |
Lawson |
The success of the Athletics Carnival relies on the contribution of many community members and organisations. We would sincerely like to thank the Launceston Little Athletics Club for all their support including, marking out the track and allowing us to use the timing gates and athletics equipment. Thank you to the West Tamar Council for being available to support with the use of the grounds, community buildings and toilets.
Thank you to all the staff and students who turned up early to take equipment out to events to ensure that the carnival was ready to start on time each morning. A special thank you goes out to Di Brozek (parent) for her amazing support over the two days of the carnival. This is the second year that Di has taken leave from her day job to support our students and staff. Di’s expertise in athletics proved to be invaluable as she was able to provide coaching and support for students participating in two of the more technical field events, the shot put and discus.
The carnival would not have been possible without the Health and Physical Education team, who all played their part to ensure the success of a whole school event. Finally, to all staff and students, thank you for your positive attitude and contributions to the success of the carnival.
Mr Toby Musovic
2019 Regional High School Basketball Championships
A grand total of 8 teams across two divisions participated in the annual Regional High Schools Basketball Tournament at Elphin over the weekend. These teams came up against some tough competition across the North of the state over the two full days of basketball. Riverside High School was lucky enough to have two teams make their respective grand finals. Our 9/10 Division 1 Boys narrowly losing to St Patrick’s College but vowing to go one better at the State championships and the 7/8 Division 1 Boys who took out the title convincingly against Launceston Church Grammar School.
Our 7/8 Girls Division 1 and 2 teams came up against strong competition, with the Division 1 girls finishing third over St Patrick’s College in a playoff for the last spot in the state championship. Finally, our 9/10 girls narrowly lost their match to Kings Meadows to finish fourth and both 7/8 and 9/10 division 2 teams had tough matches and despite their efforts, went down by close margins.
All teams should be congratulated on their commitment and participation over the weekend. It was so pleasing to see so many families out in support and the players enjoying the competitive nature of the competition. Thank you to all of the teams and coaches for your wonderful efforts. Finally good luck to our two teams (Junior Boys and Senior Boys) competing in the State Championships at Elphin on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th November.
Miss Brooke Thurlow
Hey guys! Meg and Nathan, your Monash Health and Wellbeing Prefects here to fill you in on the latest things the Prefect Board have been up to recently and what is to come in your final weeks of school. It is crazy to think that we are halfway through Term 4 already and there are still so many exciting things to come.
Athletics Carnival
Riverside High’s Annual Athletics Carnival was held last Thursday and Friday. Students are to be congratulated for the way that they participated and supported each other over both days. Congratulations to Monash for winning the 2019 Athletics Carnival followed by Lawson, Forrest and Kingsford-Smith. Well done to all members of the Mighty Monash House, you should all be so proud of yourselves…. rising from the ashes! We would also just like to mention and thank the Health and Physical Education team, the West Tamar Council, Tania and the Canteen team and the rest of the Health and Wellbeing Prefects along with anyone else who helped out, ensuring the carnival ran smoothly for both days. The Athletics Carnival would not be possible without the contributions of all these people. Also, thanks to all the staff and students who turned up early to take equipment out to events and made sure the carnival was ready to start on time both mornings. The Inter High will take place on Friday, 22nd November, as a reflection of the outstanding effort from our own carnival.
Basketball Roster
Due to the previous success of the Lunchtime Basketball Roster the Health and Wellbeing Prefects have decided to re-run the lunchtime basketball for both 7/8’s and 9/10’s. It has proven to be successful so far, however there are still a couple weeks of games left, with finals being played in Week 7. Grade 9/10’s play Mondays and Fridays, whilst grade 7/8’s play Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure to come along and support your house, whether you are playing or watching, all are welcome!! The roster is posted around the school and finals rosters will be posted shortly.
Arts Week
This week the Arts Prefects, Daniel and Eliza, have been running Arts Week. Many exciting events were part of this year’s Arts Week, which was enjoyed by all involved.
Logo Competition
The House Logo Competition ran throughout the year has been a massive success, with the winning logos being picked and printed in to house coloured t-shirts. These House Coloured T-shirts are still available from the Uniform Shop for $18, so be sure to grab one ready for next year’s sports carnivals or even for PE as they are running out quickly.
Academic Carnival
Following its success after first being introduced last year, the Academic Prefects are looking to run an Academic Carnival next week. This Academic Carnival is perfect for all, with loads of fun activities to challenge your thinking, so keep an ear out for the announcement of this year’s Academic Carnival in the bulletin or on posters around the school.
Weekly Mindbenders
For 6 weeks, each Grade 7 Home Group will receive a weekly mindbender sheet with trivia, celebrity who am I and a word game, which they have a week to work through. Introduced by our Junior School Prefects, Gab and Esther, the highest scoring Home Group will receive a reward of a hot chip lunch. We hope each Home Group works hard together on this new task, aimed at brightening Home Group for Grade 7’s.
Middle Years Literacy Project Update
The end of the school year marks the completion of the first year of our two year Middle Years Literacy Project. Working with our associated Primary Schools of West Launceston, Trevallyn and Riverside, we have investigated the achievement gap evident in the results of our male students compared to our female students, particularly in the area of reading. Our inquiry commenced with staff from all schools attending Professional Learning with Dr Ian Lillico, a renowned expert in gender education. Dr Lillico provided great insights into how boys learn and the pedagogical and environmental adjustments we can make, and enabled our staff to place a gender lens over their planning and assessment data.
Student voice has played a large part in our investigations during the course of the year. A selected working party of year 5-8 students from all schools directed by some year 9 leaders participated in a workshop from which a student survey was developed. The survey on reading attitudes and behaviours was completed by almost 1000 students. Additional discussion groups held in each school further evaluated the findings from the survey.
The survey results revealed some interesting aspects about our students reading habits and their thoughts on how it is taught in our schools. All staff reconvened to review the data with Dr Lillico at the start of Term 3 and some areas of priority were developed.
Schools have initiated a number of quick wins around improving reading opportunities and learning environments. These have included Reading for Fun, flexible reading choices, and trialling different reading strategies. Specifically at Riverside High School we have taken advantage of the redevelopment to make the learning environment more conducive to reading, a student recommendation from the survey. We have also implemented classroom libraries to improve access to reading materials and choice of texts. A book fair was held at the end of Term 3 and students had an opportunity to select reading material of interest. A survey on magazines was also conducted with the aim of supplementing the libraries with magazines reflecting the student’s interests.
Moving into next year we hope to explore further the provision of feedback for reading and alternate ways students can demonstrate their learning. Action learning teams comprising of teachers from all schools will inquire into these areas, trialling and reviewing teaching strategies aimed at improving teacher practice.
Overall the project so far has seen benefits in the collaboration between the schools and the development of consistent practices aimed at stretching our boys beyond coasting.
Mr Ben Gadsby
The Music Department of late has been a hive of activity. Students in the Audio Design class have been learning the basics on how to create and record music. The recent addition of an audio interface means that students can record original compositions and process these by using a digital audio workstation (DAW). Despite the tight timeline, as a department, we are confident that most original songs that were performed in the Battle of the Bands last term will be recorded before the end of the year.
Riverside High students have also been involved in external performance opportunities. Firstly, Eliza performed at the Department of Education Student Awards on Wednesday, 23rd October. Gilmen, a senior rock band played at the Ploughman Inn over the long weekend and finally we had two bands perform at the Trevallyn Primary School’s Be Brave and Shave event, which was held at the Tailrace Centre on Thursday, 7th November. Envy were the first of these bands and they are a Grade 7 group who had their debut performance after recently forming. The other group was Striped Trumpeter and Co. who are the recent State Rock Challenge Winners. All students represented Riverside High School with distinction.
Mr Sam Rainbird
Our Grade 7 students who will be representing Tasmania within the F1 in Schools STEM Challenge in Victoria during March 2020, are currently running a Christmas raffle to help offset the costs of their flights and accommodation. Tickets can be purchased through our Admin Office at $10 each.
Please support our students in their pursuit of being the best team in Australia.
Mr Richard Gregory