School Newsletter - Term 3 - Newsletter 2
- Principal's report
- Book Week 2024
- Father's Day/ Special Person Day Breakfast
- Swimming and Water Safety Program
- Our Reading Focus:
- Our Wellbeing Focus
- Learning Showcase:
- Specialised subject showcase: (Ag. studies, Music, Cooking, HPE.
- Ag Studies
- Cooking with Brigette
- Waddamana Excursion
- Celebrating Student Success
- Kinder Enrolments and Pre-Kinder sessions
- Fundraiser for the Canberra Trip
- C.W.A. Cancer Fundraising Day
- Gretna Cricket
Principal's report
Dear Families,
It was so wonderful to begin the week with the annual Book Week Parade. It is an absolute delight to see the excitement of our students as they share their costumes and participate in the parade. Some photos of the creative costumes are shared further on in this newsletter. Thank you to Brigette for co-ordinating the Colouring-In competition and prizes for the day of the parade. Thank you to Ms Gemma Fahy for judging the parade and to Miss Dilger for judging the Colouring-In Competition. Our students also participated in a House Reading competition to earn House points for their House. They earned points through their participation in sustained reading. Thank you to our student leaders, Danielle and Isabella, for co-ordinating this event. Congratulations to Shannon House for winning House Reading. They will also be co-ordinating a House Writing competition to be held soon.
Last week our Kindergarten through to Year 6 students had the opportunity to participate in the Swimming and Water Safety Program at the Oatlands Swimming Pool. The program supports our students to become competent swimmers and to be water safe. Thank you to all of our staff who were involved in the organising and supervising of students throughout the week and to our families for supporting this important program. We know that we sent home some very tired young people on Friday!
For 2025, we are looking to make a couple changes to our School Uniform Policy with our current policy due to expire next month. We invite families to complete this short survey with regards to the proposed changes to the Uniform Policy for 2025: https://forms.office.com/r/yxScbYvxxa. The complete policy is available to be viewed on our School Website through the School Association Page: https://bothwelldistricthigh.education.tas.edu.au/school-association.
In this newsletter we acknowledge the recipients of our values awards from our Week 4 Celebration Assembly. Congratulations once again to all the students who were recognised for their positive efforts so far this term. In addition, it was my great pleasure to host a second Principal’s Morning Tea this term. Students who received a high number of ‘excellent’ ratings for their work habits received an invite (pictures below).
Coming up soon this term, we will be conducting the annual Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey with students from Year 4 to Year 12. All DECYP schools participate in the survey and the results garnered from the survey provide valuable insights into how our students feel and think about different things going on in their lives. Families will receive a letter detailing more information about the survey.
Family School Satisfaction Survey 2024
The Department for Education, Children and Young People each year conduct a Family Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school improvement planning and decision-making. All survey responses are anonymous. All families in this school receive the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. The survey results will be reported to schools with further confidentiality measures. I encourage all of our families to please take a few moments to complete the survey. Further information and the survey link is contained via the PDF document link below: Take the online survey by clicking this Link, or pasting it in your browser:
https://nam.dcv.ms/xVfjZZkfly
As we enter Spring and then our warmer weather, a reminder that as part of our Sun Smart policy, our primary students must be wearing a hat in Term 4 or play will be restricted to the covered deck areas. Our secondary students are encouraged to wear hats when in the sun.
Kind Regards,
Erika Boas
Principal
Principal's Morning Tea.
Book Week 2024
This year's winners… LILS, Most Imaginative… Milly F, Kinder… Mabel M, Prep. Susie D, G.1 Piper B, Gr.2 Grace D, Gr.3 Jimmy & Chloe Ellis… Gr.4 Mason P…. Gr.5 Mitchell B…. Gr.6 Taylor P…. Gr.7 Harley M…. Gr.8 Eliza E…. Gr.9 Robert P…. Gr.10 Danielle B… Adults Mrs Wise
Special Mention…. LILS Connor R… Kinder, Kensi B…. Prep Ellie E…. Gr.1 Shelby R… Gr.2 Will R… Gr.3 Jimmy E…. Gr.4 Indigo M…. Gr.5 Mia C…. Gr.6 Koa E… Gr.7 Sophie B…. Gr.8 Angel M… Gr.9 Lilli B… Gr.10 Ashley B…. Adults Mrs Smith
Colouring-In LILS. Hunter P, Kinder… Kensi B…. Prep, Susie D… Gr.1 Charlotte P… Gr. 2 Grace D… Gr.3 Holly S… Gr.4 Mason P… Gr.5 Chloe E…. Gr.6 Claire W…Gr. 7 Sophie B… Gr.8 Ella P… Gr.19 Ashley B… Adults Fiona E
A big thank you to everyone who dressed up.
Brigette
Father's Day/ Special Person Day Breakfast
We would like to wish all the fathers and grandfathers and special people in our lives a very Happy Father's Day.
Thank you for attending our Special Breakfast to Celebrate with you.
Swimming and Water Safety Program
Our students from Kinder to Grade Six travelled for a week to the Oatlands Pool for the Water Safety Program.
We had loads of fun. Everyone was tired at the end of the week.
Our Reading Focus:
Our Primary teachers participated in a second sample analysis day at Bagdad Primary School. As part of this within the Midlands Cluster, our Middle Level Leaders are coaching teachers within each school to use evidence-based reading strategies. The teachers all then share samples of their planning and student work samples that demonstrate students developing growing mastery of the explicit reading strategies.
Our Wellbeing Focus
Attention: Parents and Carers of students in [Year 4-12]
Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey
The wellbeing of our students is important to us - we want to hear how students feel, and think, about different things going on in their lives.
Those in Years 4–12 at Bothwell District High School will be taking part in the Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey. The results from this survey will help us get a picture of the current wellbeing of our students, and what we can do to improve future wellbeing for learning. The more students who take part, the clearer our picture will be.
The Student Wellbeing and Engagement Survey is part of the Department’s Child and Student Wellbeing Strategy.
The details for the survey are:
When: Week 7
Who: Year 4- Year 12
What do I need to do: You and your child don’t need to do anything. The survey will be done in class time and will not require your child to prepare in any way.
A letter with more information has been sent home with all Year 4-12 students, including Frequently Asked Questions and a form to sign and return to the school if you do not want your child to participate in the survey.
If you would like further information, please contact Ms. Boas or Miss Griggs.
Thank you for supporting us to ensure that all our learners are safe, feel supported and are able to flourish, so they can engage in learning.
Learning Showcase:
Kinder/Prep:
Kinder/Prep identified a family member or friend to send a postcard to. We walked to the Bothwell post office to post them and had a play at the park on the way back.
1/2:
We have been learning to write informative texts. We have learned the difference between fact and opinion and found some interesting facts about different countries. We followed our countries as they competed in the Olympics!
3/4:
While learning about the 2024 Summer Olympics our class participated in our very own Potato Olympics. The Olympic athletes (potatoes) represented their country in events such as long jump, ten pin bowling and shot put.
5/6
7 to 10
Our students were lucky to have three Young Tassie Scientists visit from the University of Tasmania. Working in the fields of Astronomy and Neuroscience, our scientists talked about how they apply science to their work and how we can apply scientific concepts and thinking in our lives. It was a very informative presentation and thank you to Miss Dilger for organising the visit. The visit coincided with National Science Week.
Specialised subject showcase: (Ag. studies, Music, Cooking, HPE.
Choir
Our School Choir have been rehearsing on Monday and Thursday mornings this year and they have started to develop a nice repertoire of songs. Mr Ives has recently introduced the Christmas Carol Silent Night as our students are starting to focus on some of the songs that they will perform at our end of year Celebration events. We encourage students to continue to participate in Choir. Together with the wonderful social and cultural learning opportunities, the Choir is counted towards Children’s University activity.
Ag Studies
This term the primary students have started investigating fungi around our school and how it is farmed. We have set up two mushroom kits to care for, observe and hopefully they grow so we can cook with them! We have also been finding different fungi around our school.
We are still investigating the ‘Signs of Spring’ and the changes in our environment. Each time we walk to the Ag building we stop and observe the changes of the daffodils coming up, the cherry trees budding and blossoming, watching bees fly around the blossom and the birds working hard.
The 9/10’s are still working hard by feeding and handling our sheep in preparation for the Tasmanian Merino Wether Challenge.
Here are some photos of our experiences and observations.
Cooking with Brigette
Our students have been busy cooking over the last couple of weeks. We hope their families have enjoyed the range of goodies that have been cooked.
They have made Cheese and Bacon Muffins, Chocolate Brownie and Chicken Sushi.
Waddamana Excursion
Earlier this term some of our Year 9/10 students had the opportunity to visit the Waddamana Power Station Museum and Heritage Site.
Our main purpose was to help re-plant the Japanese Cherry Blossom row – which our students helped to graft from the remaining trees on the site a few years ago. Horticulturist Marcus Ragus provided us with a lot of history of the trees, these Prunus serrulate ‘Kanzan’ lineage are potentially 1000 years old and are genetically the same as the ones in Japan. He also explained the importance of pH levels in the soil, and we did a soil test to check the pH level. The original Cherry Blossom row was planted 75 years ago!
After we finished planting, we were able to go on an informative tour of the museum with Tom and Peter, this included an underground tour of the station. We were then spoilt with a BBQ! Followed by a challenge using a 3D land model where students had to design where they would put their own power station and why?
We would like to thank Hydro Tasmania for organising this day and financially supporting our students to get to the site. A special mention to Brittany Thomson and Greg Jackman for their organisation of the events of the day. Along with Charlotte, Tim, Brianna, Sam, Hannah and Hayley for supporting our students and sharing their knowledge.
Celebrating Student Success
Congratulations once again to our award recipients who were presented with certificates in the Week 4 Celebration Assembly:
Grade | Award Recipients | ||
Kinder/Prep | Name: Willow S Value: Growth Reason: For consistently trying her best in all learning opportunities. | Name: Matilda S Value: Growth Reason: For her enthusiasm to take on new challenges in her learning. | |
Grade 1/2 | Logan W Value: Respect Reason: For consistently showing kindness and supporting his peers in learning activities. | Piper B Value: Growth Reason: For doing her best in all learning activities. | |
Grade 3/4 | Name: Aiden E Value: Growth Reason: for being active in his classroom participation and applying himself in literacy lessons. | Name: Ruby P Value: Growth Reason: For her enthusiasm and effort in both her spelling and reading. | |
Grade 5/6 | Mia C Value: Courage Reason: For determination and commitment in applying her best effort to all learning tasks. | Riley M Value: Growth Reason: For perseverance in his learning and participation during class activities. | |
Grade 7/8 | Harley M Value: Responsible Reason: For demonstrating leadership in HASS. | George E Value: Being a learner Reason: For showing growth in his written responses in reading group. | Ella P Value: Being a learner Reason: For being an active participant and showing growth in reading group. |
Grade 9/10 | Mason C Value: Being courageous Reason: For joining in with reading activities. | Brodie S Value: Being a learner For applying yourself in all learning endeavours. | |
Specialist | Name: Jimmy E Value: Responsibility Reason: Dedicated efforts of sportsmanship and eagerness to learn. Encouraging others around him to try their best. | Taylor P Value: Respect | Name: Micthell B Value: Growth Reason: Mitchell has shown outstanding observation skill when looking for ‘signs of spring’. He is also demonstrating and explaining his learning in different ways, such as creating forest habitats and using leaf litter for fungi to grow! |
Whole School Values | Ellie E Reason: Ellie is consistently caring and respectful to her peers and teachers in the classroom and outside the classroom. She tries her best in all learning opportunities and persists with new learning and challenges. | ||
Our raffle winners were: Charlotte C and Thomas B
Celebrating Student Success: Eliza E
Congratulations to Eliza who is invited to attend the What Matters? Writing Competition Ceremony on Friday this Week. Eliza was the category winner for Years 7-8 students with her piece, ‘This moment, now...’ Hundreds of entries are received from across the state and to win the category is an admirable feat.
Kinder Enrolments and Pre-Kinder sessions
Fundraiser for the Canberra Trip
Calling for Sponsorship and Donations – Canberra Trip 2025
We are excited to announce that in September 2025, our Year 6, 7, and 8 students will embark on an enriching School Trip to Canberra. This four-day, three-night journey will include visits to key landmarks such as Parliament House, the Australian War Memorial, and Questacon, among others.
This trip is an integral part of our curriculum, aligning with the Year 6 HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) and the Years 7 & 8 Civics and Citizenship subjects. It provides valuable educational experiences and fosters personal growth through group travel outside of Tasmania.
To make this trip accessible for all students, we are seeking sponsorship support. We welcome financial donations or contributions of items (can be a voucher) for a fundraising raffle. All proceeds will be used to directly support the students' participation in this educational experience.
We will acknowledge our sponsors through the School Newsletter and social media, showcasing our appreciation for your support.
Thank you for considering this opportunity to support our students.
Warm regards,
Erika Boas
Principal
Bothwell District High School
Raffle tickets are available for purchase from our front office and in some locations in the Bothwell township.
Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10.
C.W.A. Cancer Fundraising Day
Gretna Cricket
