upcoming events principal’s message
TRANSCRIPT
Department of Education
NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Welcome to the new school year. We are off to
a great start with the majority of our boys
engaging fully in all that is on offer at our school.
Our school provides an expansive and rigorous
curriculum and a broad range of extracurricular
activities as we pursue our school purpose to
“Develop Good Men who are ready to achieve a
Year 12 qualification or equivalent.”
This year we have added to the curriculum
Chinese (Mandarin) classes as well the Year
9/10 Personal Research Project. These
subjects are offered to encourage further
opportunities to extend boys in our school and
to involve them in high order thinking and
learning. This adds to our diverse offering of
high level extension classes in Mathematics,
Science, English and ICT and those programs
that extend our gifted athletes and musicians.
In my year commencement address to the
school I asked all students and staff to ensure
that they get involved in all aspects of school life.
Along with the hard work and commitment to
studies we want our staff and students to have
fun each day at school. My fun comes from
planning and watching great things happen at
UPCOMING EVENTS
5 March to 7 March Peer Support Camp 1 – 7D1 & 7D2
7 March To 9 March Peer Support Camp 2 – 7E1 & 7E2
12 March Public Holiday – Eight Hour Day
13 March to 16 March Australian Brain Bee Challenge
14 March World Challenge Parent Presentation
16 March Grade 7 Swim Trials
19 March to 21 March Peer Support Camp 3 – 7H1 & 7H2
21 March to 23 March Peer Support Camp 4 – 7J1 & 7J2
27 March School Photo’s – Formal Uniform TERM DATES
Term 1
7 February to 12 April
Term 2
30 April to 6 July
Term 3
24 July to 28 September
Term 4
15 September to 20 December
our school but also I like to get involved as much
as I can. In 2018 I will assist our Music
Department to form a Highland Pipe Band and
will work with students, staff and old scholars in
the planning for our 100th year celebrations in
2019.
It goes without saying that effective
communication is vital in a large school like
ours. Most of our communication is done via
email as we make moves to reduce the use of
paper based methods. Our communications
processes include:
Our newsletters which are typically
published at the start of the year and once
at the end of each term. The newsletter is
sent home in hard copy and published on
our school web page.
Our school APP is downloaded free of
charge on parents and staff smart phones
and is used to inform our school community
of student achievement, events and change
to routines as they happen. Instructions to
access the APP are included in this
newsletter.
The school also has a Facebook site which
we use to communicate with the broader
community including our old scholars.
Messages to parents are often sent via
email. Please keep us informed of any
changes.
Excursion forms are currently sent as notes
home with your boy/s and presently trialling
a system to automate that process using
emai and phones.
Students in Grade 7 have a diary which
teachers may use from time to time to
advise parents of information particular to
their son. Homework is also recorded in
this diary.
SMS messages are sent to parents to
confirm when students are absent from
school. Sometimes we need to follow up on
absentee records particularly if a boy
arrives at school after 8:45 am and fails to
sign in at the front desk.
Ediary for Grade 8/9/10 boys is a tool used
by teachers to advise students and parents
of homework and major assignments.
Instructions on how to use Ediary can be
found on our school website. A feature of
the Ediary is email notifications to parents
when homework tasks are not completed.
We provide written academic progress,
mid- year and end of the year reports. Mid-
year we conduct formal parent teacher
interviews. Teachers make themselves
available at other times when parents wish
to discuss their son’s progress at school.
As you can see it is quite important that
families at our school have access to email
and take care to ensure that our school
office has correct email details and that we
are advised of changes.
We do of course rely on phone
conversations and face to face meetings
when issues of concern need to be followed
up or when parents need information
clarified. Appointments to see teachers can
be made with assistance from our office
staff. I am always available to meet with
parents with my appointments being
managed by Ms Bec Halloran in the front
office.
Finally I would like to thank all parents for
your support and guidance of our boys as
we implement the no phone and no social
media policy in classes. On the whole our
boys have adapted to this change easily and
with good grace. We are noticing a change
in the quantity and quality of learning in
classes. Boys have thanked me personally
for taking a strong stand on phone use and
misuse at our school. Our teachers have
noticed a significant improvement in positive
approaches to learning and respectful
behaviour at our school as a result of this
initiative. This is supported by 110
additional portable computing devices
(laptops and tablets) we purchased for
student use in classes for 2018.
Dave Kilpatrick
APPOINTMENTS AND COLLECTIONS OF
STUDENTS DURING SCHOOL HOURS
Due to the size of the school and the logistics of
finding students, to be given messages and
information from parents, with short notice, is
not always possible.
We have boys attending off site campuses, on
excursion or at off site sporting facilities.
If possible we ask parents to either organise
appointments for students outside school hours
or organise to meet their son at the school office
to sign them out and providing a note in advance
allowing their son to show the class teacher and
leave class with plenty of notice.
Dave Kilpatrick Principal
GRADE 7 NEWS
The Grade 7s began their new high school
experience with great enthusiasm. Within the
first few days students started to display some
amazing skills in the classroom and in various
aspects of school life. Many new friendships
have been formed which we are sure will last
beyond their years at New Town High. In
addition to outstanding learners we have noted
keen sportsman, creative artists, talented
musicians and active members of the greater
community. We will be celebrating these
students and their achievements soon.
Grade 7 students are buzzing with excitement
with the upcoming peer support camps. As we
write this permission forms are being processed,
activities are being finalised and peer support
leaders are brushing up on their
skills. Everyone is looking forward to this
significant event in New Town High School life.
In the coming weeks we will be asking for
nominations for the Student Representative
Council. Students will be required to prepare a
short speech detailing their suitability for the
leadership roles. Other leadership roles will be
on offer throughout the remainder of the year.
Our first formal assembly for Grade 7 will
happen soon and two enthusiastic students
from 7E1, Noah Whitney and Jacob Archer,
will be presenting the very first Grade 7
report. Well done to these two students for
undertaking this leadership opportunity.
Looking forward to a great four years.
Pete Edwards & Amanda Woods Grade 7 Supervisors
GRADE 8 NEWS
First, on behalf of all Grade 8 students, we
would like to welcome Grade 7 to New Town
High.
We also would like to welcome our new Home
Group staff, and new students. A warm
welcome to Ms Fletcher, Ms Lancaster and Ms
Weitnauer; as well as Jonathan Fewkes, 8-2,
Charlie Gray, 8-7 and Jasper Hansen, 8-6.
Grade 8 is looking toward the New Year with
excitement, and a taste of the possibilities
ahead such as lunch time sport, athletics
carnivals, and all of the extra-curricular
opportunities that our school has to offer.
Our Student Representative Council is already
in the process of organising our lunch time
sports competition for Term 1 which, as always,
will be eagerly contested by all classes.
We are also in the process of organising our
annual Easter Raffle – tickets will be available
from the main office and Grade 8 Student
Representative Council representatives.
We would like to acknowledge the following
achievements:
Congratulations to Magnus McCausland, 8-4,
who is the current U/14 State Champion in
rowing, and to Jesse Willmott, 8-4, who is a
member of the Southern Storm East cricket
team that won the State U/14 Championship.
Congratulations to the following students who
have been voted Student Representative
Council representatives for 2018:
8-1 – Leif Joyce, Allan Yang
8-2 – Luke Matcham, Ashton Hill
8-3 – Jack Rolls, Bailey Jenkins
8-4 – Magnus McCausland, Thomas
Choveaux
8-5 - Riley Bowring, Harry Featherstone
8-6 – Bill Griggs, Jacob Blum
8-7 – Jake Dobson, Charlie Pilkington
Finally, we are very pleased with the response
of Grade 8 students to the new School Phone
Policy. Boys have been cooperative and
positive in regards to this policy – well done,
boys!
Leone Lamont & Keith Turnbull Grade 8 Supervisors
GRADE 9 NEWS
The Grade 9s have started the year strongly,
with summer sporting achievements dominating
the beginning of Term.
Samuel Wright, 9D2, (along with Jaythan
Poulson of Grade 10) was selected to
represent the Tasmanian U/15 Boys Cricket
team to travel to Brisbane for the National
Championships. Not only was Samuel one of
only thirteen boys selected for this elite
competition, he was also given the honour of
being selected as Captain. Samuel had a
fantastic competition and achieved a very tidy
95 against NSW, only missing the century after
a contentious runout! Well done, Samuel!
Our Rowing champions continued their fine form
at the beginning of February with a spectacular
performance at the Southern Tasmanian
Schools Regatta. It is hard to believe that Aiden
Midson, 9H2, Joshua Glover, 9D1, Jevan
Housego, 9D1 and Thomas Morgan, 9D1, are
all only in their second year of rowing! Ms
Brooks’ ‘oarsome foursome’ were the only full
crew of public school boys and in the true New
Town High School way, they showed strength
and grit in the coxed quad sculls and came away
with a very solid victory. Ms Brooks has worked
tirelessly with the boys to build the New Town
High School Rowing squad, and it has gone
from strength to strength, and now rivals schools
with long histories of rowing. Well done, boys!
The Grade 9s are currently nominating for
Grade Council, the precursor to our end of year
leadership nominations. We again have a
strong field of nominees and wish all boys the
best of luck with their speeches.
Sara Mulholland & Hayley Noonan Grade 9 Supervisors
GRADE 10 NEWS
Grade 10 has experienced an eventful start to
the year, with schoolwork and homework
beginning to ramp up again. The grade will sit
formal exams in Term 3, and students will use
valuable time to prepare for these and achieve
the best result that they can. College
enrolments will also become a priority for Grade
10 students over the course of the year.
The Leadership Board has been hard at work
already, splitting into six separate yet co-
operating subcommittees: lunchtime activities,
grade, fundraising, community, and two
committees devoted to both events held inside
and outside of school hours. The Leadership
Board meetings are run by Harrison Tunks,
10E1, our Head Prefect, and Joshua Maddock,
10D1, our Deputy Head Prefect.
On Tuesday 13 February, the Leadership Board
held a crepe sale in the main quad at lunchtime.
The event was a huge success, with over 200
crepes being sold! The Leadership Board would
like to thank Mrs Weitnauer for organising the
event, and to the students in the cooking
department for preparing the crepes.
The 2018 Peer Support Program has kicked off,
with the first group sessions held on Thursday
16 February. The first session was designed to
help Grade 7s get comfortable with their leaders
and each other. The first Peer Support Camp
will commence on Monday 5 March. We’d like
to thank Mr Howard, the long-time co-ordinator
of the Peer Support Program, for all his hard
work preparing the Peer Support Leaders for
their positions.
Grade 10 has seen much student success over
the holidays. We’d like to congratulate Aden
Roberts, 10E1, for participating in the National
St. John’s First Aid Competition in Adelaide.
We’ve also had multiple sports-inclined
representatives. Max Waters, 10D2,
represented Tasmania in the Interstate Futsal
competitions and finished second. Dominic
Woolcock, 10E1, and Joseph Woolcock,
10E2, refereed the Under-16 National Country
Basketball Cup. Jaythan Poulson, 10E2,
played cricket for Tasmania, while Tyler
McDonald, 10H2, played hockey and James
Pearce, 10H2, played darts for the state.
We’d like to remind all students, especially
Grade 10s, that it is important to stay focused
over the course of the year to achieve success.
In this way, we can all help to Build For The
Future.
Written By Jasper France and Deklan Haas Prefects
PEER SUPPORT SESSIONS
All Grade 7 boys have now had their first Peer
Support Session led by their Grade 10 Peer
Support Leaders.
The first session involved lots of ‘getting to know
you’ activities, as well as plenty of time for
younger students to ask questions of their older
peers and learn more about life at New Town
High School.
Session two is scheduled for this coming week
and is designed to help develop boys’
awareness of the importance of having good
communication skills and understanding how to
be an effective communicator.
A third session, focussed on improving
organisation and decision making skills, will be
conducted the following week.
Building a sense of ‘team’ and encouraging
positive behaviours are on-going goals built into
the program.
The Grade 10 Peer Support Leaders take the
lead in the running of their groups and, in doing
so, act as positive role models for our new
Grade 7 students.
PEER SUPPORT CAMPS
The Peer Support Camps start the week after
next at ‘Orana’ by Roches Beach in Lauderdale.
The camps allow time for the Grade 10 Peer
Support Leaders to mentor their groups for the
duration of the three day program.
2018 PEER SUPPORT CAMP DATES: CAMP 1 (7D1 & 7D2), Mon 5 – Wed 7 March CAMP 2 (7E1 & 7E2), Wed 7 – Fri 9 March CAMP 3 (7H1 & 7H2), Mon 19 – Wed 21 March CAMP 4 (7J1 & 7J2), Wed 21 – Fri 23 March
Grade 7s will sleep in bunkrooms in the main
building, each of which sleeps eight people. For
their accommodation, Grade 10 leaders will
make use of a separate house situated nearby
on the property.
A roster of formal small-group activities have
been organised for the camp, with the Peer
Support Groups rotating through each activity
over the course of the three days. A number of
the activities are water-based, taking advantage
of the beachside setting of the facilities.
Students need to report to the assembly hall no
later than 8:45 am on the morning of their camp.
They should wear free dress and bring their gear
with them (a list can be obtained from the school
office if needed). Buses will depart New Town
High shortly after 9:00 am.
At the conclusion of each camp, students will
arrive back at New Town High about 2:30 pm.
Students being collected can be dismissed
immediately, whilst those waiting for a bus or for
a sibling will be supervised until the usual
dismissal time of 3:00 pm.
Consent, medical forms, aquatic activity and
emergency contact forms have been emailed to
parents / guardians. Please contact the main
office if you have not received these forms. The
completion of these forms is essential,
especially in cases where the school needs to
be informed of medical issues or dietary
requirements. Students who have not
returned all required paperwork will not be
able to attend their camp.
Pre-camp meetings will be held during class
time on the dates listed below. These meetings
will provide boys with an opportunity to meet
some of the teachers leading their respective
camps and to ask any questions they may have
regarding activities, equipment, or anything else
to do with the camps.
Camp 1 & 2 meeting – period 5 Thursday 1 March Camp 3 & 4 meeting – period 5 Thursday 15 March
If students need another camp list of what to
bring to camp please contact the school office.
If you have questions regarding the Peer
Support Camp, please contact me through the
main office on 6278 0400, or via email at
Mr Daniel Howard Peer Support Program Coordinator
ENGLISH NEWS
We are happy to offer a brief preview of our
enrichment program for English this year. Next
week – Wednesday 28 February and Friday 2
March - we welcome back the People’s poet
Geoff Goodfellow who will speak with our Grade
10 students and conduct his engaging master
classes with our Writers’ Workshop class. In
June our winter will be warmed with visits from
the Bell Shakespeare Troupe who will treat our
Grade 9’s to the highly entertaining performance
Shakespeare is Dead, showing us that ‘the
play’s the thing’ and the Bard lives on. Bell
Shakespeare will engage the Grade 10 students
in an understanding of the Scottish play through
their performance Macbeth in Rehearsal.
To speak to the poets in our soul, Poetry in
Action will present two performances – The
Poet’s Quest for our Grade 7 and Grade 8 group
and Words of War on the poetry of Wilfred Owen
for our Grade 10 students.
We will be engaging students in reading, writing,
speaking and listening, offering opportunities for
all to enrich their lives with the many wonderful
connections we make through words.
Grace Guerzoni HOD - English
DEBATING & PUBLIC SPEAKING AT NEW
TOWN HIGH SCHOOL
New Town High School enjoys a strong and
proud tradition of debating and seeks to follow a
successful 2017 season in the Tasmanian
Debating Union’s Southern Schools’
competition with a strong contingent of teams in
2018. We would welcome all past debaters, and
encourage Grade 7 students to join in our strong
school tradition in debating.
That three of the four teams entered reached the
Semi-Finals and two contested the Grand Final
speaks volumes about the debating talent we
foster at New Town High School. Our Grade 8
Blue team won the TDU Shield in fine style while
our senior team were valiant Runners-Up. Our
talented Grade 7 team was within a whisker of
making the finals and certainly made everyone
take notice of their style and clever wit. Our
Grade 8 Blue team and the Grade10 team were
awarded the UTAS Law Faculty’s Dean’s Medal
for the Round 4 Law Debate. The Ian Morgan
Award for Debating was presented to Kelly
Stone and Finlay Semmens in recognition of
their commitment, talent and service for four
years.
Debating is a mind sport which provides a
number of educational benefits, such as the
development of self-confidence, public speaking
plus logic and critical thinking skills.
While a high degree of commitment is essential,
the rewards are many and tangible. Students
will be given an informative letter regarding the
Southern Schools Debating Competition ahead
of registration.
Our star debaters have also excelled at
speaking competitions such as Rostrum Voice
of Youth where Kelly Stone – Head Prefect of
2017 – was the Junior State Winner and
National Runner-Up in 2016 and the Senior
Runner-Up in State Competition while Evan
Stone was Southern Regional Competition
winner. Evan was also Runner-Up in the UN
Youth Voice competition and will proceed to the
Nationals in April. Teams also send
representatives to the Evatt Trophy Competition
and Youth Parliament. We all look forward to
another great and enjoyable year in debating
and public speaking.
Grace Guerzoni Debating Co-ordinator
ROWING
Our six rowing students have had a busy
summer, training hard and representing our
school at recent regattas.
The Southern Schools Regatta was held at
Franklin in early February. Our boys produced
favourable results across all events. Magnus
McCausland, 8-4 and Nicholas Stozki, 8-3,
(both Grade 8) represented us in the U/14 races.
They took a step up to U/15s to row in a
composite quad with Dominic and New Norfolk
High. Our U/15 rowers - Aiden Midson, 9H2,
Thomas Morgan, 9D1, Joshua Glover, 9D1
and Jevan Housego, 9D1, had excellent results
and proved that they are the real deal. They
were the only full crew of public school boys in
the coxed quad sculls even and they won!
The boys then backed up these performances
the following weekend at the New Town Bay
and Hobart Regattas. These regattas, although
small, were the perfect chance for the lads to
refine their skills. It was great to see the New
Town High School colours rowing in some
mixed crew races, socialising with rowers from
other schools.
On Friday 16 February our boys headed to the
North West Schools Regatta at Lake Barrington.
Magnus McCausland, 8-4, won his singles
race very comfortably. He then teamed up with
Nick Stozki, 8-3, and they won the U/14
Doubles Sculls together. Our Grade 9 boys
finished first in the U/15 Coxed Quad Scull race
and all of them won their respective singles
races! Tom Morgan and Jevan Housego took
out first place in the U/15 doubles. What an
amazing weekend and proof that all the hard
work is paying off.
Every one of our rowers has produced excellent
results this season. The buzz and hype around
the group is palpable. But in true New Town
High School style, our boys will keep their heads
down and contain their excitement as they head
towards the ‘big dance’ - the Tasmanian
Schools Championship. This event will be held
at Lake Barrington in early March. We wish our
rowers the very best for the remainder of the
season and look forward to reporting their final
results in the next newsletter.
Miss Jane Brooks
Teacher HPE
NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
MEETING TUESDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2018 @ NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL
OFFICE 7PM
NEW PARENTS WELCOMED
CANTEEN MENU 2018
SCHOOL APP
New Town High School is pleased to announce an
upgrade to our school communication services to
include a free smartphone app – School Star.
Below is the instructions. The school will
endeavour to keep parents up to date if they are
unable to download this app, via email.
School news, newsletters, event invitations, notices
and general messages will now be sent through
MGM School Star app. Only New Town High
School parents and community members can
access content in this highly secure app.
With School Star, you get the following benefits:
Receive school news immediately, via a
Facebook-like news feed.
Filter your news feed to see just the news that
relates to your child.
Receive important messages from the school
through School Star, instead of by SMS.
Reply or send your own message to the school
for free, day or night.
Find the phone number to call the school,
quickly and easily.
A convenient quick link to our web page.
Translate content in the app into your
preferred language.
iPhone users:
1. Open the App Store on your iPhone by tapping
its icon.
2. Search the App Store for “MGM School Star”.
3. Tap the button that says “+GET”, then
“INSTALL”.
4. If asked, enter your Apple ID password.
5. The “INSTALL” button will turn into an indicator
that shows the progress of the download.
6. Once the download has finished, tap “OPEN” to
launch School Star.
Android users:
1. Open the Play Store on your Android Phone by
tapping its icon.
2. Search the Play Store for “MGM School Star”,
and tap the search result in the list.
3. Tap the button marked “INSTALL”.
4. The “INSTALL” button will turn into an
indicator that shows the progress of the
download.
5. Once the download has finished, tap “OPEN”
to launch School Star.
After you register a new account, School Star will
automatically detect our school and configure your
news feed.
We hope you enjoy using School Star. Watch
this space for updates and new features that will
make communicating with the school even
easier. We look forward to improving our
communication with you.
NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL
CONTACT DETAILS
6 Midwood Street, NEW TOWN 7008
PO Box 428, MOONAH 7009
Phone: 03 6278 0400
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://newtownhighschooltas.org
https://www.facebook.com/NTHSTasmania
ABSENCE LINE
6278 0499 or 0417 984 981 Call or text any time (24/7)
regarding your son’s absence.
Leave his name, Home Group
and nature of illness.
OLD SCHOLARS MEETING IN PREPARATION FOR THE 100 YEAR
CELEBRATION 27 February, 5pm
@ the New Town High School Office
Please circulate to all Old Scholars