Newsletter 2015 Term 2

Dates to
remember
Fri 3 July
Term 2 ends
Mon 20 July
Term 3 starts
Fri 25 Sept
Term 3 ends
Mon 12 Oct
Term 4 starts
Thurs 22 Oct
Hobart Show Day
Fri 23 Oct
Student free day
Fri 17 Dec
Term 4 ends
EDITION 2, 2015
Department of Education
Department of Education
PO Box 743 Kingston TAS 7051
Kingston View Drive
KINGSTON TAS 7050
Phone: 03 6283 1222
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.education.tas.gov.au
https://www.facebook.comkingstonhighschooltas
From the Principal
The Australian newspaper recently published a lift out
which reported on school performance in NAPLAN in 2014
using data from the MYschool
website ranking schools according to their achievement. It
was pleasing to see that KHS ranked in the top 20 high
schools in Tasmania. We were the third ranked public school in the state and in the top two high
schools in the south. I shared this information with the
community on our Facebook page and the response has
been quite amazing. 149 likes and almost 5000 reaches
must be a record for our page. It’s important that we celebrate and publicise success. Feel free to brag about our
success.
At the end of
last year we
recognised
those students
with outstanding
NAPLAN
results. Three
of our students
were in the top
1% of students in Australia and they
were
recog- Francesca Albans receiving her certificate for
nised this term NAPLAN Testing top 1% result in 2014 from
at a presenta- Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff
tion ceremony
with all students
across Southern Tasmania. Congratulations to Lilly
Smith, Francesca Albans and Ruben Moon.
Reflecting on the term one of the stand outs was the impact working with experts in a field can have. Seeing students working with world renowned music educator
Richard Smith was a highlight. The students involved
learnt so much from this and he was so affirming with
them. Mr Jansen and I had an author visit our creative
writing classes and again this was a significant learning experience for our students. Lindsay Little, a young author,
who has recently published a children’s book explained
what it was like to be an aspiring author and how difficult
it was.
The Big Picture students aim to work with mentors in an
area of interest every week on their internships. These
internships are more than the traditional work experience. Students are paired with a mentor who teaches
them about their area of interest. They continue working
on this area back at school.
This term we also had students competing in the Science and Engineering Challenge and the
NEXTGEN Business challenge. Both these competitions gave students the opportunity to work as a team
on a real project, solve problems and really show their
creativity and imagination. Congratulations to the students involved.
This term has also seen success in the sporting field. Our
inter high cross country team had great success coming
in second overall. We also had success with our small
equestrian team. We’ve also had footy and hockey teams
competing each week in a schools roster –weather permitting! Thanks to the teachers involved with coaching
and managing these teams Mr McKenzie, Miss Smith, Mr
Pridgeon, Mr Reekie and Mrs Tew.
To be successful in school you have to attend. Sounds
obvious. Attendance is one indicator of student engagement that we monitor closely. I was curious about how
many students had 100% attendance for the first half of
the year. There were 7. Congratulations to those students.
In the final two weeks of term there are two very exciting events. Our school production Bats and the
Thai exchange. I know they will both be amazing experiences for our students. The Thai exchange group have
already left. Mr Nichols, Ms Reeves and 8 of our students are taking part in the program. Students from Port
Dalrymple School in George Town are also part of the
exchange group. Thanks to Mr Nichols especially for
making this trip happen for the past few years. He puts
in hours of work each year because he’s committed to
supporting this program. I’m very excited to be joining
them in the first week of the holidays.
The other event we’re looking forward to in the coming
week is the annual school production. An enormous
thankyou to Ms Cukier for her amazing directing skills
and thanks to other staff for their involvement. Mr James
set construction, Mr Prichard set design and Mrs Tew
photography, Richard Shuttler for his work on the set
and the office staff for booking and Mrs Walker for catering. Mr Harbod for musical direction and Mr Cawthorn and Mr Plunkett for assisting with the music. A
DVD of the production will be available for pre-ordering
at the office and at the shows. I’m sure the show will be
a sell-out.
Finally congratulations to you all our students on a great
term, so many positive outcomes have been achieved. I
wish everyone a restful, happy and safe holiday break.
Angela Bird
Principal
From the
School Association
Kingston High School strives to
provide each of our students with
quality academic, cultural and
sporting programs to achieve their
personal best. The Kingston High
School Association provides assistance to students in the form of its Small Grants Program
that aims to assist students undertake extra-curricular
activities in any of these key areas of personal development. Please ask the helpful and friendly staff at the office
for more information about this program.
Fynn Sprott successfully applied for
a KHSA Small Grants Program which
assisted him to travel and compete in
the National Championship Competition for trampolining. Fynn competed
in several events and finished first in
the Double Mini Tramp making him
the Australian U15 National Champion. Fynn also finished in 4th place with
his team mate, Sam in the synchronised Youth International Trampoline
event. Congratulations Fynn.
Staffing News
Steven Figg, one of our Assistant
Principals,
retired earlier this
term after taking long service
leave in term 1. Mr Figg was an
outstanding teacher and leader at
Kingston High School for 8 years.
We thank him for his commitment to our students and staff
and wish him well in his retirement.
Thanks to Michelle Andrews for her contribution as Assistant Principal for terms 1 and 2.
Leif Shea has been appointed to the Assistant Principal
position and will commence at the start of term 3.
Emma-Louise Cukier will be on long service leave for the
first five weeks of term 3. Jane Hamilton – Foster will be
the replacement teacher.
Fynn Sprott
The end of second term is upon us and the activities in
and around the school continue like clockwork. Kingston
High has offered its students the opportunity to participate in so many activities, it’s a wonder it can all be fitted
in to the timetable: swimming, surfing, cross-country, netball, hockey and equestrian, science and maths events &
competitions, ICAS English competition, geography outings, The Hobart Eisteddfod, Thailand student exchange,
ANZAC day, Leadership Training with the Rotary Club of
Kingston, school camp and preparations for the school
theatrical production.
Since the last newsletter we have held the AGM for the
KHSA. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
outgoing KHSA members, Cynthia Howard (Secretary),
Cindy Calvert (Deputy Chair) and Jackie Organ (Parent
Representative). The KHSA has two new members,
Catherine Fondacaro (Secretary) and Paula Wriedt
(Deputy Chair).
The KHSA welcomes any parents to attend the meetings
or to bring forward to committee members any issues
they would like to raise with the school. A time table for
meetings, agendas and past minutes can be found on the
school website.
With all this, how could our students not grow into well
rounded young adults? We give them the Courage to
dream, and the opportunity to succeed.
Grant W. Allen
KHSA Chairperson
Ross Nichols will be on long service leave for the first
three weeks of Term 3. Sophie Fazackerley will be the
replacement teacher.
Angela Bird will be on long service leave for the first two
weeks of term 3. Julie Leitch will be acting Principal during this time.
Ben Stafford has been selected to be part of a full time
intensive teacher learning program in Maths education
with UTAS. Ben will be replaced by Stephen Hand for
term 3.
Congratulations!!! Francesca Albans, Lilly Smith and Ruben Moon -Grade 10’s who achieved top 1% in NAPLAN in
Grade 9 for 2014.
School Tours
Open morning is every Tuesday
Tours available 9.30am and 11.00 am.
Prospective parents are invited to come and see
the school in action.
Please phone 6283 1222 to make a booking.
Mathematics News
Water carrying activity in D Pod
There are numerous opportunities for extension in Mathematics offered at Kingston High and a number of our students are throwing themselves into them. A groups of
Grade 7’s, 8’s and 9’s, have recently completed the three
week Challenge Program offered by the Australian Maths
Trust and a smaller group have just commenced the longer
and slightly more demanding, Enrichment Phase. In addition to this entries have recently closed for the Australian
Mathematics Competition which is to be held across the
nation on Thursday 30th July. We are thrilled to have a total of 43 students entered in this competition.
In D pod we looked into the daily task of carrying water
which many populations around the world rely on for
their survival. We explored water carrying in the countries of Africa, India and Timor-Leste. It is almost always
the girls of the family that are responsible for collecting
and carrying the water for their people. In some cases
the journey to water involves mountain climbs, treks
across deserts, many kilometres and heavy loads. After
becoming acquainted with some of the stories of these
people we took part in an activity at school that aimed
to allow us to emphasise with the people and what they
have to do to simply survive. In groups we gathered water in various water carrying vessels such as buckets,
bottles and jerry cans. We collected water that was
dirty and needed filtering. Decisions then had to be
made on where the finite amount of water would be
allocated. Would the whole family have enough to
drink? Would there be enough for washing? Would
there be enough for cooking?
In class, extension is also being offered by one of our very
generous parents, Karen French, who has been working
regularly with students in both the senior and junior
school. Thank you to Karen for giving us her time
End of term and with reports
Robyn Aitken
coming home soon, this is a good time to remind families
that the school has purchased access to maths learning
platforms for all students in the school. Junior School students all have individual accounts with Hot Maths
(www.hotmaths.com.au) while Junior and Senior students
have
accounts
with
Maths
Online
(www.mathsonline.com.au) These websites can be accessed from home if you have the internet. Students
should all know their log on details. You may wish to encourage your child to spend some time on these sites to
support and extend them in the development of their
maths ability. See your child’s maths teacher for more de-
Woodbridge Marine Discovery Centre
On June 9 and 10 2015 Grade 7s in D pod took place in an
excursion to the Woodbridge Marine discovery Centre.
On arrival the classes split up in groups and did two different tasks, the first was a scavenger hunt activity in which we
had to find 25 different species fish, sea stars, sharks,
whales, shells and crustaceans. One of the activities this included was looking through microscopes and identifying
different forms of plankton such as zoo plankton (animals)
and phytoplankton (plants).
We all had lunch, then the two groups swapped activities; it
was time to get on the boat. After stepping on board we
had a chat about the history of the Derwent River and the
D'Entrecasteaux Channel, including the ecosystem and how
it has changed over time and due to over fishing by humans.
After a safety briefing we cast off and started talking about
what fish we could catch on the longline which we put
Photo of Oliver
Dalco D3 carrying water.
His water carrying cards were
‘small containers’, ‘muddy
pond’ and
‘mother with
baby’ hence the
backpack ‘baby’
down in the hopes of catching a gummy shark. To our disappointment when we pulled the long line in there were no
fish or sharks attached. After the disappointment of our
long line we lowered a dredge onto the sea bed to see if we
could achieve any better this time, we were pleased to find
as we pulled it up that the basket which had been dragged
along the sea bed was full to the brim with sea life. We immediately sorted what we had found and threw back the bycatch; we then took the life forms back to the marine centre with us. On the trip back into the marine centre we explored the engine room and the cabins.
When we had arrived back at the marine centre carried
what we had caught inside, then we watched a video about
how water pollution can affect birds as well as sea life. It
was then time for us to leave; we thanked the staff and coordinators for an enjoyable and interesting day and came
back to school on the bus.
By Callum Dungey, Alexandra Geeves, Zoe Belstead and Sarah Blackburn
E Pod News
Reflections on F Pod during Term 2
In E Pod we are in the final phase of our first inquiry for
the year. In the Junior School all pods have been exploring the idea, “What is the value of water?”. Each
pod has examined this in slightly different ways but all
with the same underlying focus on water. All students
are drawing on the content/concepts they have learned
about water, in Science and Geography, throughout the
term, and are applying this new knowledge and understanding to studying a question based on water of their
choosing. Grade 8’s are enjoying the inquiry process
again, relishing the opportunity to investigate an idea
they are most interested in and Grade 7’s are learning
some valuable skills around time management and managing their own learning. The ideas being explored are
interesting and varied. Some of the topics are; Water –
How can it be used in a battlefield?; What does paper
have to do with water; How does our body use water?; Where is water in our solar system? We are looking forward to seeing some of the final inquiries.
It has been a busy term with our students busily researching the topic of water in Science and Geography as
part of their Integrated Inquiry ‘What is the value of
water’? The first four weeks saw students being immersed in the content of the water cycle, the chemical
compound of water and looking at how water is important from a geographic perspective.
During the latter part of term 2 we have been lucky
enough to have two student teachers working with us
in E Pod. Mrs Lauren Watson has been working with
Mrs Jen Grubb classes and Miss Polly Roberts have
been working with Mr Mark Prichard’s classes. We
have enjoyed having them in the Pod, would like to
thank them for their professionalism and enthusiasm,
and wish them well as they continue their training.
To the students of E Pod…an end of term well done
to them all for the effort they have made being respectful, responsible learners. We have a very positive
and calm feel in E Pod and students are to be congratulated in working on maintaining this.
Janelle Reeves
E Pod Coordinator
t
a
i
l
s
.
Janelle Reeves
AST Numeracy/Mathematics
During the Mini Inquiry phase students researched the
impact of living in a desert and how this effects daily life.
Students compared the town of Luderitz in the Namib
Desert with living in Hobart. This led to students conducting a Major Inquiry into the value of water on a topic
of their choice. These topics ranged from comparing
slums in areas such as Brazil and India to the value of water in surfing.
Daniel Ragg, Michael Rudolf, Beinn Hurn & Calvin Kean
A highlight of this term was the Cross Country
event where participation was very high from F Pod.
In fact 6 of our students, five from Grade 7 and one
from Grade 8 came in the first three in their races
and represented KHS at the Inter-High. Extracurricular involvement has also seen our Junior
Leaders take an active role in running activities for
students at lunch time and 10 of our students joining
the Tournament of the Minds teams. F Pod is a very
exciting pod to lead!
Here are some perspectives of our students when
asked what the highlights of term 2 were:
‘The Inquiry, because we get to choose a topic and research it on our own!’ – Kayla
‘I quite enjoyed cross-country and going to the Inter-High;
that was fun!’ – Alisha
Sandra Dokos, Learning Leader F Pod
Transition
Kingston Ambassadors enjoyed the opportunity
earlier this term to return to their old primary
school to speak about the transition to Kingston
High. They also answered questions about life as a
student at high school, bring your own device, the
buses, canteen and all the sporting opportunities
available here. We will see these students again
on Primary Visit Day on Monday 2nd November
and nearly all of them on Orientation Day on
Thursday 3rd December.
City of Hobart Eisteddfod
The students competed in three sections at the
Hobart Eisteddfod on Monday 25th May. There
were a number of schools competing including
Collegiate and Rose Bay High School. The Concert
Band came first in the year 8 and under section
and the Senior Concert Band came 2nd in the year
12 and under concert band section. The Stage
Band also performed and came second in the year
12 and under Stage Band section. Students performed really well on the day and were also credited by their behaviour at the Federation Concert
Hall by the organisers.
Simon Cawthorn
Ex students Shelby Bradshaw, Joanna Elliott, Alyssa
Thomasson, Maddy Shum, Magali Rokotondrabe,
Luke Meline returning to Blackmans Bay Primary for transition.
Student Forum and Junior Leaders working
together
Student Forum and Junior Leaders met again this
term. They have identified the following issues and
opportunities to work on: even more sporting activities each lunch time, more Four Square spaces,
debating team, chess club, review of our homework policy and establishment of a homework assistance program, breakfast club, locker sizes, access to pod kitchens, comparison of prices between our canteen and canteens at other schools
and prices of our school uniform compared to the
uniform of other schools. We look forward to the
presentation of their research findings, reports and
proposals for consideration and action. Jump Rope
for Heart has been postponed until term 3 and 4.
Author Workshop with Lindsay Little
Grade 8 & 9 Creative Writing classes enjoyed a
workshop with author, Lindsay Little. Students
learnt about how to write a novel and the publishing process
http://www.jamesmunkers.com/
Completed projects from MDT classes
Big Picture
I went to Avanti Plus Hobart for my first internship where I
learnt many valuable things about retail and customer service I also learnt a lot about bikes which is one my biggest
passions. I was lucky enough to get a job out of it
Tom
This year I am involved in Big Picture. I have started my
internship at Bishop Davies Court, a Nursing Home in Kingston. The first time that I went I was a bit nervous, but now
I feel much more confident. I have shown a natural ability
in the way that I communicate with the elderly. I am learning new skills and hopefully this will lead me to a job so
that I can go to America.
Lucy
Overall I fell that the internships teach you way more than
in mainstream school. A fair bit of the stuff you learn in
Maths, Science, English and History won’t help you later in
life. But getting all this experience out in workplaces is very
helpful.
John
With the semester coming to an end, Big Picture students have been studiously completing their assessment tasks for English, Maths, Science and History and
finalising their projects for the next round of exhibitions that are to be held in the first few weeks of term
three. This is to be the second in a series of three projects that are based around an area of each student’s
personal interest. Advisory teachers have been working hard to help identify learning goals and to incorporate and embed aspects of the Australian Curriculum
such as numeracy and literacy into each students project.
On top of their core classes and projects, students
have been participating in the internship program that
is offered as a part of Big Picture. Some students have
been out in the community visiting one or more workplaces for a day a week from the beginning of the year.
Others have participated in multiple “shadow” days in
the pursuit of workplace based learning opportunities.
These opportunities allow students to gain skills and
knowledge that will give them an advantage when entering the workforce.
Joe Collins-Rounsevell
Big Picture Advisory Teacher
Brittany
Photography Internship
Balloon Art by
Big Picture students
Big Picture students enjoyed a trip to Bruny Island and
practiced perfecting their photography techniques.
After this internship at Kingston Agistment and Training
Centre I am hoping to get my Level One in Riding through
Equestrian Australia so I can instruct people and teach
them how to ride. I also would like to manage my own riding school and doing this internship lets me see what it’s
like.
James
Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
Students in Grade 9
prepared an amazing
morning tea for staff
which raised $217.00
for cancer research.
Felicity Oates working on a bus as part of her
Big Picture Internship
2015 Interschool Equestrian
One Day Event
A one day event is an equestrian event with the three events in
one day; Dressage, Cross-country and Show Jumping.
Kingston High School had one full team and one mixed team.
The one full team had myself, James Wakefield and my horse
Sophia, Georgia McGrath and her horse Lochie and Emma
Nicholson and her horse Felix and Simone Crack and with
Kentucky gold. We had one person on the mixed team; Austin
Williams riding Tex. The event was held at Monmouth Pony
Club which is just next to the Hobart Airport.
After a great day of competition, we placed 3rd overall in High
School Dressage and individually, Emma Nicholson won group
three and Georgia grade one.
The Team would like to thank Sarah Smith for all her hard
work with the students and organising Kingston High to compete at this fun event. We’d also like to thank all the parents
that took the time to help at the event. Finally, thank you to
Monmouth Pony Club for letting us hold the event there.
Well done Team, you did KHS proud!
By James Wakefield and
Georgia McGrath
Outdoor Education
During this semester we’ve enjoyed being a part of the Outdoor Education program as it has taught us valuable leadership skills as well as doing fun activities. Such as coasteering,
bush walking, mountain biking and rock climbing. We also
got the opportunity to go on a day trip white water rafting
on the Picton River, which was loads of fun.
We have also learnt lots of survival skills that will help us
during our lifetime, and we would encourage everyone to
have a go at
this subject as
there’s nothing
to lose. Except
for the occasional student!
On behalf of
the class we
would like to
thank
Mr
McKenzie for
a great semester.
By Izaac
Brad and
Nicole
(Grade 10)
Dark MoFo 2015 Ogah-ogah
Ogoh-ogoh Machines 2015
During the week of Dark MoFo 2015 we participated in
Ogoh Machines. Sixty students from schools in southern Tasmania participated in the four day art workshop held at the
Tasmanian School of Art. We participated in lectures on
making masks and head dresses; we also participated in
movement tasks which required us to leave our comfort
zone, work with students from other schools and use a
variety of materials.
I n
Balinese Hinduism,
Ogoh-ogoh (demon-like sculptures) are crafted, carried and
cremated as a form of mass purification. We were guided by
art school lecturers and even the artists of the Tasmanian
Hand Fish. We mostly worked independently with lots of
materials to make our own Ogoh-ogoh head dress to wear
in the procession to burn the fears of Hobart city on Sunday
21st June.
“It was a different, but a really good experience
to get you to try new things”
Grace Morgan
“It was really interesting and a great new experience
Music Concert & Workshop
School Football
Every Wednesday boys from Grade 7 – 10 have been
representing their School playing Football.
The Grade 7/8 Football team have played 3 games and
are undefeated.
The Grade 9/10 Football team have played 4 games and
lost 1.
The roster will finish at the end of Term.
David Pridgeon+`
Human Library Launch at KHS
The Kingborough launch of the Human Library was held
at Kingston High School on June 2nd in the Kingborough
Performing Arts Centre. Representatives of Kingborough
Council, Kingborough businesses and community organizations, Principals and School Association representatives
from local schools as well as Ms Judy Travers, Manger of
Learning Services South and Ms Robin Banks, the Antidiscrimination Commissioner were part of the group of
30 who were able to interact with the ‘books’.
The Human Library is like any other library except that
the books are real, living people. Ms Bird, KHS Principal
is picture here listening to Zedrick a former refugee from
the Congo tell his story. Human libraries are used
around the world to enable people to build understanding
and face their prejudices. They do this by providing a
comfortable space for ‘readers’ to speak informally with a
‘book’ who has encountered prejudice or stereotyping as
a result of their culture, religion, refugee background,
gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability..
This was an amazing experience to be able to see past
external differences to what we all share in common.
We are hoping to extend this experience to more of our
school community.
Robyn Aitken
School Association Representative and Advance Skills Teacher
Richard Smith & band members
Wow...what an amazing concert our concert and stage
bands performed. Professor Richard Smith's residency
at KHS has lifted our musicians to a new level. It was
fantastic to see Richard play with our students. They
learnt so much from him over the two days. Thanks
also to our wonderful teachers Simon Cawthorn and
Nigel Harbod for working alongside Richard.
Human Library Launch at KHS
Science and Engineering Challenge
The Science and Engineering challenge occurred earlier in
the term and Kingston High was well represented by a talented group of year 9 and 10 students. The Challenge is
designed to provide the students with a positive experience in Science and Engineering through competition with
other schools in a series of heats. The event was held at
the University of Tasmania in the activities centre. There
were a number of tasks that enabled the students to design, construct, test and problem solve solutions to the
open-ended challenges. Some of the tasks were Bridge
Building, Hover Frenzy, Mission to Mars and Grasping at
Straws.
NEXTGEN Business Challenge
From June 1-5, students across Southern Tasmania participated in the NEXTGEN Business Challenge, at the Sandy
Bay UTas campus. We, one of two teams from Kingston
High School, had to draft an idea based around Tourism
tours in Tasmania.
Within our team, Southern Temptations, Errinne TewsonClay, Jemma Tiainen, Lucinda Lagos, Holly Perryman, Christina Hippel, Jenny Zhen, Sarah McKay and Angelica Walsh
participated. The other participating team from Kingston
High School, Maria Island Tours, included Matilda Andersson, Brian Shisanya, Ethan Leitch, Jo Thomson, Zac Sabapathy and Luke Kooy.
On the last day of the challenge, we had to create a trade
display in which we would present our ideas to the public.
Afterwards, the awards ceremony was held to compliment
the hard trip that every team went through. The team that
ultimately took the crown was Crimson Valley Tours, a
team from St. Aloysius, and were awarded a tour with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. Our team, Southern Temptations, was runner-up, having received five awards; including
Best Trade Display, Best Short Challenges and Best Idea –
Student Choice.
The focus of the day is on team work and a willingness to
get involved in the challenges. It was great to see the students were engaged and worked attentively to solve the
challenges. It is important to note that students do not
need to be scientifically minded to participate successfully.
The school finished in a respectful second place and were
unlucky not to win a ‘wildcard’ entry into the finals. It was
a fantastic day and the students all had a positive experience.
We all endured a tough and exhausting week, with deadlines
due every day. Overall, the NEXTGEN Business Challenge
was stressful at times but in the end it was a truly rewarding
and unforgettable experience.
One of our teams came second overall and won 4 out of 9
Awards.
A great achievement.
Here’s the winning trade display.
It looks very professional.
By Errinne Tewson-Clay, Angelica Walsh and Jemma Tiainen
The Science and Engineering challenge is a worthwhile experience for those students wishing to pursue a career in
Science or Engineering in the future. We look forward to
next year’s challenge!
Michael McKay HOD Science
Cross Country
Our Grade 10 Cross Country champions.
It is Cross Country season again with students in Physical
Education classes having plenty of practice leading up to the
day. Mr Pridgeon added the atmosphere and the participants ran and walked the course throughout the blocks.
There were some fantastic individual efforts, but it must be
said the enthusiasm shown by the students who competed
was fantastic. Special mention to the Grade 10’s who came
out to run in the wet just as excited as the Grade 7 student’s had in the morning. Well done to all involved and big
thank you to staff for manning checkpoints and recording in
‘the wind tunnel’!
Inter High Cross Country
This event was closely followed by the Inter-High
Cross Country at Pontville with a team of 52 students
competing. Again some fantastic individual performances, but the aggregate score enabled Kingston High to
come 2nd overall. Well done team! The final event is
the All Schools race at Symmons Plains held on June
30th with another strong team on the way and a possible berth for students to represent the State.
Good luck to all athletes!
Simon McKenzie
Outdoor Ed Coordinator
Whole Team at Pontville Park
Gr 7 boys
International students
Farewell NAJA-AFS Volunteer Abroad
We would like to welcome the following international stuMy time at Kingston High School is almost about to end
dents to Kingston High. In addition to hosting students from
and it has been a great experience. Before I came here I
Thailand, Japan and Wenzhou, China we have 6 students who
was planning on studying teaching when I got back to Denhave chosen to study at Kingston High for the full year.
mark again. I can safely say that my time at Kingston has
not made me change my mind.
My time at the school has made me think about what kind
of teacher I would like to become and in what way I would
like to teach. I have got inspiration from what I have experienced here. In general I have become more confident in
speaking English, which was one of my goals, and hopefully
that will be enough for me to encourage myself to choose
English as one of the subjects I would like to teach back in
Denmark.
In the Senior school Yuta Maruyama (Japan), Seonjae
Choi (Korea), Keisuke Kawamizu (Japan)
At the school I have especially enjoyed being with the Outdoor Education classes and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to get to see some of Tassie at the same time.
Australian people are very kind. I like Tasmania but it is very cold.
I like meat pies, orange juice and ice cream.
Even though I am looking forward to going back to CopenBy Yuta Maruyama hagen I will really miss waking up to Mount Wellington, the
sea and all the gum trees every morning.
I have come to Kingston High to help me grow as an individual. I
Naja Christensen
like school here for its large size, number of breaks, for the number of students and the way we do lessons. I enjoy improving my
English every day. Maths is my favourite subject because I find it
very interesting. I like the school because the buildings are spread
out and there is a green nature to the school.
By Keisuke Kawamizu
In the Junior School we have:
Rei Kawakubo (Japan), Huijae
Choi (Korea) and Yik Hong
Tsang (Hong Kong)
My name is Rei Kawakubo and I
have been at Kingston High School
for 4 months. Before Kingston High
School I went to school in Japan called
Kashii Daiichi High School. I like Kingston High School because everyone is
friendly and I like the canteen because I like to eat yummy food. I
also like that I can bring snacks to school. My favourite subjects
are Japanese, Maths and PE, because Japanese is my first language and I love Maths very much. I also like PE because I can
play sports well. By grade 10 I would like to learn English better
than now and some scientific knowledge. I love Kingston High
School very much.
Written By Rei Kawakubo
Parent help needed
If there are any parents who could give up at least an hour
a week to help tutor a student in need of help with their
school work, could they ring the office and leave a forwarding phone number. There are a number of students
across all grades who would benefit from one to one assistance and it would be much appreciated.
Validation forms
Validation forms have been sent out to families recently.
We require this information to ensure contact details
are correct.
Please return your completed validation form to the office as soon as possible.
Melbourne Sports Trip
Victorian Institute of Sport
Push up’s without touching the ground. Netball girls.
Students enjoyed the Melbourne Sports Trip which included AFL football, a visit to Punt Rd Oval, Netball—Vixens v
Tactics, Soccer—Melbourne Victory v Central Coast,
Bodyology Fitness Studio and 2XU Recovery and Education
Session, Victorian Institute of Sport—Albert Park. Students
managed to find time for retail therapy and a dinner at
Grill’d. Everyone agreed they had a great time and came
home exhausted.
World Vision Youth Conference
Four Grade 10 students attended the Tasmanian World Vision Youth Conference on Friday 22nd May. It was an intense
day of learning about global poverty and how we can respond
to it. The students, Maddy Barr, Harriet Mewis, Ashleigh Hale and Lizzie Ennever, participated in workshops
that encouraged them to see the world through a different
lens. The girls will be promoting the 40 Hour Famine in coming weeks.
Thailand Exchange 2015
By the time you are reading this article the Thai Exchange
students and teachers will already be in Thailand with our
host families, experiencing the Thai culture and probably
still adjusting to the temperature change between Hobart
in mid-winter and Thailand’s summer heat. This year
there are 8 students accompanying Mr Nichols, Ms
Reeves and Ms Bird on the yearly exchange. In March we
had our Thai friends come and stay with us and experience many of the special things Tasmania has to offer as
well as building an appreciation for how we live and learn.
Now it is our turn to do the travelling.
We are to fly out of Hobart Airport early on Wednesday
24th of June and return on the middle Saturday of the
school holidays. Ms Bird will be joining us at the end of
the term for the last week. We will be spending a couple
of days in Singapore on the way to Thailand, where we
will be doing the Singapore Flyer, Singapore River Boat
Cruise and the Singapore Zoo, among other things. Once
in Thailand we will visit places such as the Grand Palace,
the Death Railway and Hell Fire Pass, the Ancient City of
Ayutthaya, ride elephants and experience many other
school based cultural activities. If you would like to follow
our adventure we have created a blog where we will be
sharing our experiences and photos.
The link is https:khsthaiexchange2015.wordpress.com/.
When you get to the page it will allow you to click on a
“Follow” button that will let you know, via email, when
we make a new posting. We would love you to check it
out.
Janelle Reeves
Student Coordinator
Students participating in the Thai exchange 2015
School Psychologist
Our new School Psychologist is Chloe Moult, Chloe
works Monday, Tuesday and alternate Thursdays. Students can call to discuss any issues with Chloe. If parents have concerns and would like to make an appointment please make a booking via POD Leader.
Skoolbag app
Kingston High now has its very own communication App.
Please take the time to download our App to your
Apple, Android or Windows Phone/Tablet.
Have alerts and school events sent directly to you.
Have newsletters and other school documents available instantly.
Use it to notify the school of your child’s absences.
See our Daily Bulletin.
Use it to fill in forms for excursions and other
events—no more last minute scramble to sign a piece
of paper on the day of an excursion.
Book parent/teacher interviews.
Let us know of any changes to your details.
Use the suggestions form to help improve our practice.
For instructions on how to download the App on Apple & Android devices go to;
http://www.skoolbag.com.au/app/admin/
parentinstructions.pdf
Windows Phone users simply look up “Skoolbag” in
the Windows Store, and install it. Once installed find
Kingston High, and pin it to your Phone’s Home
Screen.
PO Box 743 Kingston TAS 7051
Kingston View Drive
KINGSTON TAS 7050
Phone: 03 6283 1222
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.education.tas.gov.au
https://www.facebook.com/kingstonhighschooltas
Uniform
All students should be in correct school uniform
with no additional outer garments eg hoodies or
windcheaters. The only concession is students are
allowed to wear a plain navy or black puffer jacket
outside only, although we would prefer they wear a
school jacket.
Uniform shop is open 8.30-11.00am Fridays
during school terms.
If families are experiencing difficulty purchasing
school uniform please contact the school social
worker or Pod Coordinators.
A reminder to parents and students that if you have
uniform that you no longer require we can sell it on
your behalf (20% commission). Simply leave the uniform at the main office clearly labelled with name
and phone number and we will try to get the best
price for the items.
Please check lost property near the medical
room for your missing clothing.