I would like to welcome everyone to the 2021 school year, especially our 141 new Grade 7 students. We have also enrolled 10 new students in Grade 8-10 over the last two weeks, taking our total enrolment up to nearly 500 students. Over the past 3 years our total enrolment has increased by approximately 80 students.

We have been fortunate enough to welcome 4 new staff in 2021.

They have added so much experience and knowledge to our teams and we know that their previous schools are missing them.

We have had a great start to the year, with students already fully engaged in their learning. Our vision “Inspire today, to empower tomorrow,” gives us a strong direction and focuses on ensuring we give our students the important skills that require them to be successful in today’s workforce. Our Motto, Realising Potential, highlights that active participation in school or community life has a significant positive impact on a person’s wellbeing. We encourage students to keep making the most of their opportunities at school. 

It is important that our whole school community aligns their actions towards our values. The values highlight the behaviours we expect to see from students, staff and our community. We keep each other accountable to these values and understand that our work in this area has helped us build a strong culture, based on high expectations.

Respect – Respecting ourselves, others, our past and the environment

Responsibility – Taking positive ownership of our actions and making the most of opportunities

Best Effort – Greatest possible effort even when it’s difficult or challenging

Inclusiveness – Treating all people fairly, equitably and with empathy

The focus value for this term is 'Responsibility'.

Communication

Your child’s teachers and TAs have been working tirelessly to plan a learning program that caters for your child. If you have any questions or need to give teachers information in relation to your child’s education, please organise a meeting with your child’s teacher. Teachers can be contacted via email or by booking an appointment through the front office.  Principal teachers will also be contacting each family during Term 1 to introduce themselves and discuss how your child has settled in.  

Communication will also take place via our School App – Schoolzine and our School Facebook Page. Later on in our newsletter, there is an explanation on how to download our school App.

2021 Staffing

Below is a list of our leadership team and principal teachers.

2021 Leadership Team

Our leadership team for this year

Principal – Mr Grant Armitstead

Assistant Principal – Mr Franks (Senior School)

Assistant Principal – Mr Murray (Junior School)

Instructional Coach (Literacy) – Mrs Thomas

Pedagogical Coach – Mrs Hizartzidis

Grade 7 AST – Miss Knight

Grade 8 AST – Mrs Hess

Grade 9 AST – Mr Davies

Grade 10 AST – Mrs Elliot

11/12 AST – Mrs Hawkes

Grade 10 Maths PLT and My Education – Mrs Moore

HPE Team Leader – Mrs Rataj

School Business Manager – Mrs Hicks

2021 Principal Teachers

7A Miss Knight/Mrs Popowski

7B Miss Frimley

7C Mrs Wiseman

7D Mrs Hizartzidis/Mrs Cooper

7E Mr Kelly

7F Mr Symmons

8A Mrs Thomas/Mrs Hawkes

8B Mr Yeates

8C Miss Clarkson

8D Mrs Hess/Mr Hizartzidis

8E Miss Officer

8F Mrs Stubbs

9A Mr Beechey

9B Mrs Bellchambers

9C Mr Davies/Mrs Chaplin

9D Mrs Farr

10A Mrs Elliott/Mr Connors

10B Mr Crabtree

10C Mrs Moore

10D Mr Robinson

10E Mr Heathcote

2021 Prefects

During the second half of last year our current Grade 10s worked through a leadership process to nominate for Prefect in 2021. These students stepped out of their comfort zone and put themselves through an application, speech and voting process. I would like to thank all students for embracing this opportunity and giving it their “Best Effort”. Below are the elected prefects for 2021. The company that we order our prefect jackets from have apologised that they will be unable to have our jackets until approximately week 7 as COVID-19 has affected their supply chain. Therefore, our Prefects won’t be formally inducted into their roles until after they receive their jackets.

Our prefects are:-

Nollan Anthony-Peel
Emilia Aylett
Keegan Berger
Joshua  Bingham
Callum Bishop
Riley Boatwright
Zak Bonney
Zara Cole
Brea Cunningham
Tahlia Harvey
Brylie Hingston
Kostantinos  Mallios
Abbey Matthews
Tim  Popic
Lachlan  Prowse
Toby  Reeves
Grace  Saunders
Matilda Wordsworth

Grade 7, 8 and 9 Camps

7B - Miss Frimley - casey.frimley@education.tas.gov.au

7C - Mrs Wiseman - tegan.sims@education.tas.gov.au

7D - Mrs Hizartzidis - courtney.hizartzidis@education.tas.gov.au
       Mrs Cooper - rebecca.cooper@education.tas.gov.au

7E - Mr Kelly - ryan.kelly@education.tas.gov.au

7F - Mr Symmons - claye.symmons@education.tas.gov.au

Welcome to Grade 8 in 2021!

It’s hard to believe that we are already into Week 2 and that our Grade 8s are the leaders of the Junior School. I would like to start by introducing the Grade 8 Team which consists of Caitlyn Officer, Rebecca Clarkson, Nik Hizartzidis, Alastair Yeates, Anne Thomas, Bernadette Hawkes, Alex Stubbs and myself. Over the first few days of school students have been working on getting to know the routines of Grade 8 and their new teachers. As a team we have been really impressed with the way in which students have come to school ready to learn and are demonstrating our school values of Best Effort, Respect, Responsibility and Inclusiveness.

In lieu of our Grade 8 Camp we will be holding a Grade 8 Big Day out on Thursday 11^th March at Camp Clayton. In the coming weeks more information will be sent home regarding this day.

I would like to extend a special welcome to our new Grade 8 students and I look forward to seeing students making the most of their opportunities throughout 2021.

Danika Hess
Grade 8 Team Leader

Great start to Grade 9

Teachers from Grade 8 in 2020 had told me how lucky the Grade 9 team were to have such an amazing group of students come into the senior school in 2021. You obviously reserve your judgement until the start of the year, however, as a staff, we couldn’t have been more impressed with them so far. The culture they have developed amongst their grade is one of inclusiveness and respect. Their positive interactions with each other and staff make them such an enjoyable group of students to teach. They also have an intrinsic motivation to learn and are using Intervention time to achieve the highest standard in their work. Over the next few weeks our Grade 9 team will be in contact with families to introduce themselves and talk briefly about your child’s start to Grade 9.

Below are some photos of our students at their beach day.

I would also like to introduce 3 staff that have joined our team (photos below):-

Mr Beechey is teaching English and History for 9A and 9D. He taught a number of these students in Grade 7 and has been moved to the Grade 9 team as an English PLT Leader.

Mrs Farr has joined us from St Brendans Shaw College. She has extensive skills in Maths and Science and is also teaching 9A and 9D these subject areas. It has been wonderful to talk to Mrs Farr about how impressed she has been by our students.

Mr McCreghan has also joined the team as a Teacher Assistant. He has previously worked in our Tier 3 program and brings a wealth of experience in supporting students with their literacy and numeracy.

The Grade 10s have started the year in a positive way. The have settled into our routines and have been making the most of the opportunities offered to them, both in and out of the classroom. 

On Monday, Grade 10 students had a day at the beach where they were asked to put their first aid knowledge to the test. Students were given different scenarios where they had to use DRSABCD to resolve the situation. These scenarios involved a snake bite, an asthma attack, a rolled ankle and a drowning incident. Students were able to use their knowledge effectively in each of the scenarios. 

In our core classes, Grade 10 students are learning about the following:

English - How a composer's values influence the way they compose a text

Maths - Linear Algebra

HASS - 20th Century events and how they have impacted on today 

Science - Chemistry and the Periodic Table 

If you have any questions throughout the year, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s principal teacher on 64 208 100 or alternatively you can email: 

10A
Sarah Elliott - sarah.j.elliott@education.tas.gov.au

Jesse Connors - jesse.connors@education.tas.gov.au

10B
Stuart Crabtree - stuart.crabtree@education.tas.gov.au

10C
Alison Moore - alison.moore@education.tas.gov.au

10D
Richard Robinson - richard.robinson@education.tas.gov.au

10E
Richard Heathcote - richard.heathcote@education.tas.gov.au

On behalf of the Grade 10 team, we are very much excited about working with the Grade 10 year group. 

Sarah Elliott
Grade 10 Team Leader 

School Photos - Monday 15th February - Don't forget to return your order forms to your Principal Teacher or the office.

Grade 7 & 10 - Immunisation forms need to be returned to the office by Wednesday 17th February please - these need to be filled out even if your child isn't having the vaccine at school.

ICT Forms - please return these to your Principal Teacher as soon as possilbe.

Surf Carnival 2021

After a really positive and successful Beach Safety Week we will bring all of these skills together at our annual Surf Carnival on Tuesday 16th February, 2021.

Students will need to wear bathers under their sports uniform,or casual clothes that protect their shoulders from the sun. Being dressed ready to go minimises the time that students need to spend in public changerooms and allows for more time at rotations. Please bring a hat, sunscreen, dry underwear, towel, spare plastic bag and a growth mindset.

Students rotate around 8 stations throughout the day and should give their best effort at each.

Students need to meet in Principal Teacher classrooms and will be transported on buses to Port Sorell Surf Club.

Food is available to purchase on the day - fresh salad rolls, wraps, pies, bbq, drinks etc

If you have any concerns about your child’s ability to participate or circumstances have changed since filling in the aquatic permission please contact the school office on 6420 8100.

See you on TUESDAY

Trailscapes have done an amazing job with our pump track. They are putting the final touches on the track this week, which enables us to begin using it next week, however, there is some important information that we would like families to understand.

The pump track can be used by anyone in our school community outside of school hours, however, it will only be supervised by staff from 8.15am to 8.35am each morning and at lunch time. If your child decides to use the pump track prior to 8.15am and after 2.50pm, there will be no direct adult supervision of the track.

We also ask that students, who are wanting to access the track with their bikes or scooters, enter through the southern lane (being careful of the chain at the bottom) or the southern gate at the eastern side of our oval.

We are really excited about giving our community a chance to use the pump track. We ask that people are respectful of the area and place any rubbish in the bin. We are also trying to get grass growing around the pump track, so please try and stay off any areas that have been seeded.

Welcome to 2021.  

Hi, my name is Gill Brazendale and I work at Reece High School as an Aboriginal Education Officer.

At Reece High School I am your first contact for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

I am available by appointment Monday - Friday from 8:45am (just contact me via email below or through the school office 6420 8100)

A bit about my role:
I assist staff and students (from year 7 -12) in and out of the classroom with many things including: attendance, participation, excursions, cultural awareness/activities and community-based access/connections.

I can provide information for both parents and students in regard to Abstudy/Centrelink and community organisations that cater for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, e.g. Number 34 Aboriginal Health Service in Ulverstone; Tiagarra Aboriginal Culture Museum; Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation; and Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Tas TAFE Aboriginal programs, just to name a few.

Aboriginal Education Services
Aboriginal Educators play an important role in education for staff, learners and the Aboriginal community. An understanding of local culture and strong community ties contribute to the improvement of educational outcomes for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners. Aboriginal Early Years Education Workers (AEYEW’s) are based in Child and Family Centres (CFCs) and work closely with families of Aboriginal children from birth to five years of age to engage them in early years initiatives that enhance their children’s learning. 

Aboriginal Education Officers (AEO’s) and Aboriginal Education Workers (AEW’s) support teachers and Aboriginal learners in the areas of wellbeing, access, participation, engagement, transition points including pathways to post-school options and in contributing to a rich curriculum inclusive of Aboriginal content and perspectives across the curriculum. ​​​​​​​

Kind regards,

Gill Brazendale | Aboriginal Education Officer | Aboriginal Education Services
Department of Education | Reece High School, 41-43 Middle Road, Devonport
64 20 8100 | 0436 865 025 Gillian.Brazendale@education.tas.gov.au

Check out Aboriginal Education Services new collection of online multimedia resources designed to assist the teaching of Tasmanian Aboriginal histories and cultures here >>> www.theorb.tas.gov.au

We acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of this land, on which we learn and work together.

We are committed to building relationships and opportunities for all Aboriginal people in our community.

We pay our respects to the elders, past, present and emerging, for they hold the memories, traditions, culture and hope of First Nations people in Tasmania.