Newsletter 2015 Term 2
Transcription
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: kingston.high@education.tas.gov.au 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: kingston.high@education.tas.gov.au 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.