Dear Parents/Carers

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday break and that staff and students are feeling energised and motivated for the term ahead. Term 2 is always a great term to really get ‘stuck into’ teaching and learning and to really progress and embed some of our school improvement work. As we return from holidays, parents can support their child(ren) returning to school by getting into good daily routines, speaking positively about school and taking an interest in what their child is learning at school.  We appreciate your support as, after all, educating young people is best done in partnership.

You may recall that a large portion of our final assembly for Term 1 was a recognition of ANZAC Day due to 25 April being in the school holiday break. Thank you and well done to Prefect Co-ordinator, Rebecca Glasby and our student leaders for their great work in running this assembly. This year we also had the opportunity to deliver the student speech at the dawn service at the Launceston Cenotaph. Two of our Prefects, Alex House and Grace Webster, delivered an amazing speech. In fact, in more than three decades in education, it was one of the best I have ever heard. You may have seen the article in the Launceston Examiner on 26 April. We received positive feedback from varied community members regarding their efforts. Well done, congratulations and thank you to Grace and Alex for a fantastic effort. Thank you also to the other student leaders who laid wreaths and represented our school at the Launceston, Perth, Evandale and Longford services. Thank you to teaching staff, Emma Attard and Brendan Poke, Rebecca Glasby, Eloise Hart and Chris Murray, who all supported our students and represented our school at these respective services.

There are a variety of wonderful opportunities occurring in our school this week with students involved in the Launceston Competitions at the Princess Theatre, the Science and Engineering Challenge at UTAS yesterday, the Launceston College Hair & Beauty excursion tomorrow and the Girls On Track excursion to Symmons Plains this Friday.  Please also note that we have our annual School Cross Country Carnival on Friday 16 May and the Northern High Schools Sports Association (NHSSA) winter sport rosters commence next week for both junior and senior teams. All of these opportunities enrich, extend and engage students in addition to the regular curriculum.

I believe most people are familiar with NAPLAN which is coordinated by ACARA (i.e. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). The ‘NAP’ part of NAPLAN stands for National Assessment Program. In addition to literacy and numeracy, there are a number of other tests which ACARA administers. This year we have been selected to provide a sample of Year 10 students to participate in NAP-ICT Literacy (i.e. National Assessment Program – Information and Communication Technology Literacy) and this group of students will participate in this test on Thursday May 8.

This year we have introduced a camp for Year 9 students as we know the benefits of such events and that they are really valued by many members of our school community.    This year group was impacted with their Year 7 camp due to COVID restrictions, so I am sure students will gain a great deal from this significant opportunity. Thank you to those parents who were able to attend the camp information evening last Wednesday. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school as good planning and preparation ensures these events run smoothly and allay any worries parents, students or staff may have leading up to the camp.

Last week we welcomed Mariam Shimmari to our staff team. Mariam is joining us as our permanent Laboratory Technician. I am sure everyone will make her feel welcome and part of the school community. We are currently undergoing recruitment for our Library Technician vacancy and that will be advised in due course. This term, we also welcome back senior staff, Emma Dobson and Stuart Withington from extended leave. It is great to have these staff back as part of our team. Mr Withington will be taking on the role of Year 10 Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) and Belinda Selby and Megan Pel will continue leading the Year 7 team. We have made this decision to minimise change and disruption, particularly for our Year 7 students.

Thankfully we have been able to re-establish our School Association Committee this year. However, we are also interested in attracting more people to the Committee or other members of our school community who wish to contribute but perhaps not hold a formal committee position. You are welcome. Our upcoming meeting is next week on Thursday evening at 6.30pm. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you require further information or wish to discuss further.

At the beginning of the year, I spoke to students about our theme for this year being ‘embracing opportunities and accepting responsibilities’. As we embark on another term at our great school, I encourage students to fully engage with their learning and take up the many wonderful opportunities available to them. Similarly, I expect that students accept their responsibility to follow our school expectations, demonstrate loyalty and pride in our school at all times and engage in respectful behaviour whether that is here at school or in the community. I look forward to a great term ahead.

Regards

Cary Stocks
Principal

We welcome back our Year 7 students to Term 2 and congratulate them on a settled start back.

The Year 7 Teaching team will have a focus on attendance this Term and all students will be given the chance to set themselves a goal to improve their current attendance rate.  Are you often late in the mornings?  Perhaps that is why you are at 85.6% attendance – can you try to get to school on time and bring it up to 90% (which is the accepted norm for each student).  Every school day matters!

Also this term we will be working on an end of term reward for students who consistently follow our R.O.C.K.S. expectations of Respect, Organisation, Commitment to Learning, Keeping Safe and Sensible Behaviour.  Stay tuned for more details! 

Term 2 Learning Topics:

Maths:  Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
English: Persuasive Writing
Science: Mixtures
HaSS: Civics
HPE: Bullying and Respectful Relationships + Cross Country 

Student Celebration:
A big congratulations to Hanya Rush who recently represented Tasmania at the National Little Athletics Championships in Adelaide. Hanya came 8th in the 800m and 9th in the 1500m for her age group in all of Australia!  Well done Hanya – we look forward to seeing your time for Cross Country in Week 4 of this term and at our Athletics Carnival later in the year.

Belinda Selby
Advance Skills Teacher (AST) Year 7

Please feel free to contact your child’s teachers for more information. 

I must say the first week back at for Term 2 has been quiet and settled for Year 9.  Our average attendance is currently sitting at 88% and I must congratulate all our wonderful parents and students for their support in ensuring that we aim to attend school each day.  While we are currently sitting above our school improvement plan target, I would like to encourage everyone to keep up the great work and see if we could reach 90% average attendance over the coming weeks.

On Wednesday last week we held our first camp meeting for parents. It was incredibly pleasing to also see so many students attending on the night.  I would like to thank the parents and students who attended and our student leaders Imani, Anabel and Alix for their support on the night.  We had approximately 30 parents attend our session with one keen parent even connecting with us electronically due to being away interstate!!  It was wonderful the hear some of the great questions from parents and experiencing their commitment to being involved in their child’s education.

On Thursday and Friday last week we acknowledged students who were recognised by teaching staff for their excellent efforts in class or for simply showing kindness and support for fellow students or staff as needed as part of our ‘Chip Champions’ incentive. Over 40 students took time out of their day during Block 4 to be rewarded with hot chips and some time with fellow peers as recognition for their contributions and hard work in creating a positive learning environment for everyone.

During our last Year 9 Grade meeting we set our next focus for the term.  Over the course of this term, we will be actively continuing to look for and acknowledge positive contributions that students are making towards others by offering support, friendship and kindness.  We will also have a major focus on acknowledging students that are ‘organised’ throughout the day and during lessons as this helps to increase both learning and time on task during lessons. 

Once again, I would like to thank our incredibly hardworking Year 9 team for their exceptional efforts in the first week and their contributions for the students they support and work with daily. 

Nathan Karas
Advance Skills Teacher (AST) Year 9

YEAR 9 CONTACT DETAILS:

Welcome Back to Term 2!

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable break, I know I did. As we embark on this new term, I am thrilled to introduce myself as your new Year 10 AST. I am eager to get to know each of you and work together to ensure a successful and fulfilling remainder of the year.

To our Year 10 students, I am excited to support you in your academic journey. This term brings new opportunities for learning and growth and I am here to help you navigate any challenges and celebrate your achievements. Remember, your hard work and dedication are the keys to your success.

To the parents and carers, I look forward to building a strong partnership with you. Your involvement and support are crucial in creating a positive and productive learning environment for our students. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Together, we can make this year a great one for our young people.

Lastly, I want to extend my gratitude to the Year 10 teaching team. Their commitment and support for the grade is continually appreciated. I am excited to collaborate with and support their efforts in providing the best possible education for our students.

Let's make Term 2 a fantastic and memorable term for everyone!

Stuart Withington
Advance Skills Teacher (AST) Year 10

YEAR 10 CONTACT DETAILS:

As part of our Positive Behaviour Support Program at Kings Meadows we will be acknowledging students who have been contributing positively to our learning environment.  This means that they have been supporting our school-wide expectations.

Respect for others, self and environment

Organisation

Commitment to learning

Keeping safe

Sensible behaviour

We would like to acknowledge the following students:

Year 7:

Addy Moore – For overcoming all challenges faced within her first term of high school. 

Cameron Dobson - For always being a supportive and helpful classmate. 

Year 8:

Ellie Bruce – For going above and beyond to make new students feel welcome.

Paige Roberts – For taking the extra time and care to clean her classroom at the end of the lesson.

Year 9:

Alix Maynard, Zack Perkins, Coby Praciak & Halle Ralston - For ongoing commitment and dedication towards improving learning.

We were also represented by Alicia Towns and Sadie Marshall at the Evandale Service. At this service, Sadie Marshall read the poem In Flanders’ Fields and afterwards, Mrs Glasby received an email from Bob Strachan (Secretary of the Evandale History Society & 2025 ANZAC Day Co-ordinator) commenting that Sadie did a “wonderful job with the poetry reading” and recited the poem “with confidence and feeling”. He also added that she is “a very impressive young lady and a great ambassador for KMHS”.  Such positive feedback is truly brilliant. 

Additionally, we extend a gigantic thank you to the parents who attended the services as well as the parents who either collected wreaths or had wreaths delivered to their doors, then transported them safely to the services. Your support is greatly appreciated. 

It is also vitally important to acknowledge the teachers who attended these services and took time from their holidays to support our students in their leadership roles. A big thank you to Emma Attard, Eloise Hart, Christopher Murray, Brendan Poke and Rebecca Glasby.

Kings Meadows High School, St Mary’s High School, St Helen’s District High School and Deloraine High School all participated in the AFLW Gala Day that was held at KMHS.

The first game for Kings Meadows was against St Mary’s. Both teams played tough footy but St Mary’s getting the better of Kings with the scores 1–13.

The second game was against St Helens. It was a great, intense game to watch, both teams hard on the ball but fortunately Kings held out and won the game with the scores being 10–4.

Lastly, KMHS played Deloraine. It was the toughest game the girls played, both teams playing an excellent game but unfortunately Deloraine took out the win, with the scores being 8-19, loosing by 11 points.

Thank you to the volunteer umpires from KMHS and from other schools and a big thanks to the teachers for co-ordinating this event.

Written by Charlie Hogarth and Noah Robinson

Congratulations to all of the award recipients at the end of Term 1 assembly.

True Blue recipients were:

Year 7:               PENNY KOSTA 

Year 8:               EDITH BISHOP 

Year 9:               RYAN CHANDIWANA 

Year 10:             AMELIA STYLES

Dear Year 7 and 8 Families,

Please find attached information about a Learning for life scholarship opportunity through the Smith family. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please click the link below:

Learning for Life - Expression of Interest

Our annual school cross country carnival is scheduled for Friday 16 May (Week 3). We’re looking forward to a great day with fantastic weather (fingers crossed). Students are hard at work in their HPE lessons training for the event. Take a look at some shots of our course which is looking fresh and ready to go. We’re very lucky to have such a fantastic facility.