Dear Parents/Carers

As Term 3 comes to an end, I am pleased to report that we have had a very positive, busy and productive ten weeks in our school. I am constantly amazed by the insights and achievements of our wonderful students and the commitment and dedication of all our staff. Thank you to everyone who has embraced the opportunities and accepted their responsibilities this term.

We have a very strong Arts program in our school, with a great team of experienced and dedicated teachers. Recently, we had three acoustic acts participate in The Rock Challenge held at The Ark and three bands participate in the Battle Of The Bands at the Launceston Convention Centre. All students did an amazing job and received great comments from the judges and a positive reception from the crowd. Well done to all students involved and a big thank you to music teacher, Jade Howard for the fantastic work she does with these amazing students. I would particularly like to acknowledge Alex who was voted Barratts Music Crowd Best Individual Performer. Well done!

Last week, we also had some of our Drama students performing at the Little Theatre in Deloraine as part of the Deloraine Drama Festival. Our school has been a consistent performer at the Festival for many years and have always done very well. While I am not aware of the outcomes at the time of writing this report, I have no doubt our students would have done a wonderful job. Thank you to our Drama teachers, Kate Blaubaum and Joh Breen for supporting our students with this after-hours opportunity.

I am thrilled to be able to advise that over the holiday break we are planning for an electronic scoreboard to be installed adjacent to our oval. Other than schools that are co-located at local council grounds or with a sporting club, I am not aware of any public school that has this level of facility. It could be a first for a public school in Tasmania! We have been quite strategic over the last few years by endeavouring to connect with various sporting and community groups to improve access and use of our facilities after hours. As part of this strategic approach, we are committed to working on ways to continually invest and develop our sporting facilities for our students and for the broader school community to utilise. I am very proud of our progress to date and we will continue to work on this moving forward with the aim of expanding opportunities for our community. This scoreboard has been possible through a Telstra Footy Country Grant Program of approximately $15 K in partnership with the South Launceston Junior Football Club, an AFL Tasmania grant of just under $20 K, and a contribution from our school through the student leader’s legacy gift. This is a great example of a successful partnership that will benefit the school and the community. In addition, through the AFL’s Breaking New Ground Program we were also provided with a substantial grant which has been used to engage Otium Planning Group to develop a Partnership Opportunity Plan. Hopefully, that will lead to some exciting possibilities into the future but will require further support beyond the school level. I look forward to our new scoreboard being installed and what the future might hold as we continually look for opportunities to engage and improve for everyone’s benefit.

We will also be top dressing parts of our oval over the holiday break to get it prepared for athletics and cricket and for football in 2026. I would like to acknowledge the great work of our Education Facility Attendant for grounds, Adam Smith who has brought some great skills and commitment to our school in the significant work required to maintain and develop our extensive grounds.

We have been successful in securing a number of grants this year through Sporting Schools which has supported a number of opportunities for students in the sport and recreation realm. Additionally, we were recently advised that we were successful in receiving a $3000 grant as part of Kinetic Moving Communities Fund Grants. I would like to acknowledge the motivation and efforts of acting Assistant Principal, Brendan Poke in helping to secure these funds for our school community. Bus expenses are a significant cost to our school, so it is wonderful that a company such as Kinetic is ‘giving back’ through these generous grants.

The Moving Communities Fund is Kinetic’s community grant program dedicated to supporting grassroots organisations across Australia and New Zealand. With grants of up to $10,000 and in-kind support, the fund backs initiatives that address pressing local needs, promote equity and inclusion and champion youth and disadvantaged groups. Since its launch in 2024, the fund has supported projects such as food relief, youth mentoring and inclusive sport, helping organisations scale their impact during a time of rising costs and demand. By showing up for those who show up for others, the Moving Communities Fund is building stronger, more connected communities.

On 12 September, we had a group of girls attend the Girls Engineering in the Skies at the Launceston Airport. Students had the opportunity to hear from people working at Launceston Airport and in the aviation industry. They also participated in a Sharp Airlines hangar tour and the Cool Aeronautics Aerial Design Challenge. This was a great opportunity for our enthusiastic STEM students, to see all aspects of STEM in action in the workplace. Thank you to teacher Sherron Casey for accompanying students on this excursion.

As part of our partnership with the Beacon Foundation, interested students attended an excursion to the Australian Maritime College yesterday. This is always a popular excursion where students engage in hands on activities as well as tour and learn about what the College has to offer. One of the most popular activities is a water rescue simulation. Thank you to Belinda Selby for facilitating this experience for our students.

On Tuesday afternoon, we provided the opportunity for progress conferences. Although we are required to provide this opportunity as part of the Department’s Communicating Learning Progress to Families Procedures, it is not aligned to a formal reporting period and is therefore not usually as well attended. Thank you to those parents and carers who were able to attend and thank you to Advanced Skills Teacher (AST), Jake Chamberlain for co-ordinating the afternoon. Nevertheless, if you are ever concerned about anything with your child, including their learning, I encourage you to reach out to teachers and school leaders.

The after-school basketball roster started on September 17and 18 respectively. This year we have eleven teams entered. It is great to see students taking up this opportunity.  However, we cannot provide this great opportunity to our students without teachers and parents stepping up to coach and/or manage our teams. These people do not get paid for their volunteering and give up their personal time. This shows a great commitment to our school and to our students. Thank you to all these wonderful people and best wishes to all our teams involved in the basketball competition.

Looking ahead to the next few days, we have Dance students involved in the Stompin Dance excursion tomorrow. We will conclude the term this Friday with a whole school assembly during Block 3 and 4, and grade assemblies in the afternoon. Our next School Association meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 13 November and that will likely be the final meeting for 2025. Thankfully, we have a very capable and stable staff team, so I am not expecting any changes going into Term 4.

I wish students and staff a relaxing, refreshing and enjoyable holiday. I look forward to welcoming students back to Term 4, commencing on Monday, 13 October.

Regards,

Cary Stocks
Principal