Welcome to Spring; I think we are all enjoying the opportunity to get out and about in the warmer weather. As we move into the last two weeks of Term 3, I would like to commend students on the way they are working and encourage them to maintain their efforts and focus so that they get the very best from this valuable learning time. We look forward to a positive and productive end to the term.

School Satisfaction Survey
Thank you to those families who have taken to the time to complete the 2023 School Satisfaction Survey already. Every year the Department of Education conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about Reece High School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school-planning and decision-making.

The survey is open from Monday 28 August 2023 until Friday 22 September 2023 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Take the online survey by clicking this link or pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/H1vFn48Ikx

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department for Education, Children and Young People staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Australian Educational Research Organisation (AERO)
Reece High School has been selected by AERO to be filmed for their Snapshots of Practice series - Showcasing positive examples of tiered interventions in schools. The purpose of the Australian Education Research Organisation’s (AERO) Tiered Interventions project is to strengthen the capability of systems and schools to support students who enter secondary school with gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy skills. As part of this work, AERO is looking to showcase schools that have successfully implemented a tiered intervention approach. This is some great recognition of the amazing work we have been doing in the intervention space. The AERO team filmed interviews with staff on Thursday and gave some great feedback on our ways of working and our focus on student learning. There were only seven schools from Australia to be selected to be part of the research and Reece High was the only Tasmanian school. We are so proud to be recognised for our commitment to improving student learning outcomes through best teaching practices.

Vaping – Knowing the Facts
The Department for Education, Children and Young People continues to promote and educative, harm minimisation approach to vaping through its policy, partnerships (Department of Health), education and social media campaigns.  To help you support students, young people and their families, DECYP has created a webpage with information and resources for teachers, parents and carers and young people.

To protect young people, e-cigarettes are treated the same as tobacco cigarettes under Tasmanian law. This means:

• a person under 18 cannot use, possess or buy vapes  
• a person cannot supply vapes to a person under 18  
• vapes cannot be used in public areas that are smoke free – this includes: 
• bus shelters or bus and pedestrian malls
• within 3-metres of an entry or exit to a public building
• bars and restaurants or workplaces
• cars with a child in them
• certain public events

It’s also illegal for anyone (even adults) to use, buy or sell nicotine containing e-cigarettes in Australia without a prescription.

Please see the fact sheet for more information.

Open Classrooms - Sharing Evidence of Learning
The Staff of Reece High School would like to invite you to an ‘Open Classroom’ evening to be held on Wednesday 20^th September, 2023 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. This information session will be hosted by Principal Teachers in their classrooms and will include a free sausage sizzle. This is a great opportunity for students to share evidence of learning with their parents.  Principal teachers and RP teachers will be available in their classrooms. HPE teachers will be available in grade areas.

Think You Know Program
This year, all students in Grade 7 – 10 have taken part in the Think You Know Program led by the Australian Federal Police to help educate children and young people in preventing online child sexual exploitation. The presentations were delivered by Police to build positive engagement between children, young people and police, while equipping students with the knowledge and skills to be able to take actionable steps to maintain their safety at all times.
If you would like to know more, please follow this link: ThinkUKnow

This week in Grade 8 English, we have started a new unit on crime fiction. A fake murder scene had been set up as a way to introduce the topic in a creative way. This crime scene took place in room 404, building 4. On the 10^th of September around 6 pm, the police department received a call relating to the murder of the beloved Grade 9 teacher Mrs. Hutwitch. With only 4 suspects, all with different motives, it was up to Grade 8 students to unravel the case, based on a number of clues. Once the students had investigated the scene, they then had to write a short narrative expressing their verdict on who they think was the murderer. Was it Mr Dizartzidas, Mrs Hiss, Jimmy Von Messin or Murphy McMurfinson? As we progress through this unit, we will get a better understanding on ‘Whodunnit?’

Esther & Jordan

Master Builders and Civil Contractors – Grade 9 

On Monday 11th September, a group of about 45 Grade 9 students attended the Master Builders and Civil Contractors presentation. The presentation was focused on “building a high-vis army” and recruitment of men and women into both the building and construction industry, as well as the civil contractors industry. Students were introduced to a range of career options and pathways, as well as listening to the experiences of people in the industry. The presentation gave students some invaluable advice as they look to the future.  

Dearest members of our schooling community,

It’s been a while, but we are back.

Grade 10 has been busy this term as well as fulfilling.

In Science, we have been investigating the effects of climate change.

In Maths, students have been learning trigonometry, as well as studying data and statistics.

In English, students analysed film techniques and worked on writing their own short stories.

Lastly, in the best subject, HASS, students learned how Australian society has changed over the past 100 years, as well as conducting geographical inquiries.

Many students have also gone out on work experience, all worked hard and gave their best effort!

As the term comes to an end, we encourage students to continue to work hard, be respectful and always give their best effort.  

As the great Taylor Swift always says, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”, or something like that.

Kindest regards,

Grade 10 team.

Grade 10

Work Experience

Many of our Grade 10 students have participated in work experience during Term 3.

Work experience is a great opportunity that helps increase self-understanding, maturity, independence and self-confidence in our young people. It can increase motivation to continue study and/or undertake further training. It gives them a better understanding of how the school curriculum can help prepare them for work.

A fabulous time has been had by all students with many making future contacts and employment possibilities in the industry area they hope to pursue. They have gained valuable insight into an industry which they may not have known much about before the experience. 

Nate @ L&C Spray painter
“On the first day I got to disassemble farming equipment and prepare it for sand blasting. It was a really good environment, I felt welcome and looked after.  I was taught heaps and learnt lots about the industry. It was a great experience.”

Max @ Devonport Airport
“On the first day I was on the ramp/tarmac. This was a good experience for me to have some hands-on experience, working with a team and I believe this has had a beneficial outcome on. Because I found out I’m better with hands on work and I learnt a lot, it was an amazing experience”.

Breanna @ Don College – Childcare
“I really enjoyed working with little people. It was nice to help them ride a bike and navigate the play equipment and learn their colours.  We also did some puzzles and water play. Thank you to Renee and Lisa for having me.”

Kayne @ GP Glass
I loved everything about work experience, the people were really good. I learnt how to put windows into frames and how to make frames. It was difficult to put the rubber into the beads in the ceils of the window.

What a busy place the kitchen has been this term. We welcomed some new Grade 7 students into the kitchen where they have been learning basic cookery skills and techniques as well as safety and hygiene principles. 

Our Grade 9 hospitality students have had a very busy term with 6 students designing and decorating cakes to enter the Latrobe Chocolate Winterfest competition. The commitment, creativity and enthusiasm these students demonstrated was amazing as they spent two full days in the kitchen creating some outstanding cakes. They worked with maturity as they worked to strict time frames, problem solved issues and adapted where needed. Although they were not awarded any prizes on the day, the satisfaction that these students received just completing the task was well worth it. 

We then had a busy few weeks catering for the Grade 6 Information Night; students made savouries as well as slices and worked on the night bringing it all together. This was followed by a large amount of cooking for Grade 10 students who were doing a unit on immigration. Our hospitality students made over 100 slices of sushi, samosas, Dutch doughnuts   and more. It was a very busy day in the kitchen and all students showed outstanding project management skills. 

Our double block Grade 8 students have just started a unit on Australian foods and will this week be cooking wallaby hamburgers and wallaby meatballs and spaghetti. For many students this will be their first time eating wallaby. The unit will conclude with students designing a dish using wallaby meat as the main ingredient along with a variety of fresh ingredients.

A good new story… we all need to know that we have wonderful people in our
community and that they really care about helping others; community spirit at its

best!

Recently, I was contacted by a wonderful group of ladies, who wanted to know if they could help with hygiene products for our female students, as they have done previously. After some wonderful conversations via email and face to face, they decided, as the need was still evident, that they would like to help again this year, with hygiene products for all the teenagers in need. It has been incredibility humbling to see the keenness and generosity this wonderful group of ladies have for this project. Bags were delivered this year by ladies of the group to: Latrobe High, Reece High and Ulverstone Secondary College.  Below, Karin- from the Crystal Girls group, wrote this brief overview below of the support they received from our community and why they have been so initiative-taking.

“Our group of girls decided that we needed to gain the support of the wider community to address the concerning need of our teenagers going without the most basic items and therefore not meeting their individual personal needs.

Last year we donated personal products to Reece, Devonport, and Latrobe High Schools in support of the Australian National Women’s charity, which works to make a difference in the lives of women and girls who cannot afford period products or who struggle to access the products through shame or stigma. We chose instead to support our own girls in our community high schools with the products and hence the 2022 donations.

This year we sought community and business organisations for donations of either money to purchase the items or actual donations of products and were overwhelmed with the community response. The following businesses and individuals generously supported the Crystal Girls.

Meagan Stredwick, owner and beauty therapist of Shear Skin and Beauty at Shearwater

Dales Cleaning Service – owned and operated by Tina Sutczak

Elders Real Estate – managed by Andrea ONeill

A.P Horizons – a disability support provider,

along with very generous donations from individuals.

The Crystal Girls were so overwhelmed by these generous and incredible people for supporting their cause to assist our young people in schools.”

I would like to give a hearty “Thank You” to the Crystal Girls for their enthusiasm, generosity and for the countless hours of organising, donating, buying, picking up and delivering all these wonderful items to our local high schools. We would also encourage you all to support the local businesses and individuals who have supported them. The Crystal Girls have gone above and beyond for out local teenagers, how wonderful it that!

Debbie Knightley
School Health Nurse @ Latrobe High School