School Newsletter - Term 1 - Newsletter 1
Principal's Report
From the Principal:
Welcome back to another exciting year at Bothwell District High School! I hope everyone had a restful break and is ready for a term filled with learning, growth and new opportunities.
This year, we continue to embed our 4Bs – Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Courageous, Be a Learner – into everything we do. These core values guide our school culture of being ‘A Connected Community’, ensuring that all students and staff feel supported, included, and empowered to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
Our students are awarded daily with VIPs – ‘Values in Practice’ tokens - for living our values and meeting expectations. Each week we draw five students in our morning Meet and Greet Assembly to receive a values reward. The number of VIPs per student accumulate for them to receive term-based rewards also.
This year we are also focusing on regular school attendance as a measure for meeting school expectations. Consistent school attendance lays the foundation for academic success and lifelong learning. Research overwhelmingly shows that regular attendance is linked to higher academic achievement and results across all age groups. Students who attend school regularly have better social skills, adjust more easily to the school environment, and feel more connected to their community. A reminder that any day your young person is not at school requires a notification be made to the school. This can occur via phone call to the office, a message through SchoolZine App or via an email.
A huge thank you to all the families who attended our Welcome Families BBQ and Meet and Greet event! It was wonderful to see so many of you engaging with our staff, learning about the year ahead and strengthening the home-school partnership. Your support and involvement play a vital role in your young person’s success, and we truly appreciate your time and commitment.
Learning Overview Letters
This week our families will receive Learning Overview Letters for your child’s key teachers. The letters will provide a snapshot of the key learning occurring this term and who to contact regarding any daily messaging.
Seesaw
Thank you for your patience around Seesaw. We have been advised that School Seesaw accounts can once again be opened following a reported data breech from a local primary school. We anticipate that our Seesaw account will be working again next week.
Validation Forms
A reminder that validation forms must be returned as soon as possible. These forms are essential to ensure we have the most up-to-date information for your young person, including emergency contacts and medical details. If you haven’t already done so, please submit them to the office at your earliest convenience.
Sheep Station Cup – thank you
Thank you to the Sheep Station Cup for their continual support of our school. It was my great pleasure to attend the event again this year (first year of success for me in the silent auction!). Together with the annual contribution towards supporting the school, last year the Sheep Station Cup Committee provided an additional $10,000 to go towards the Year 6-8 Canberra Trip.
Bothwell DHS School Association.
Are you passionate about supporting our school and being part of important discussions that shape our future? We invite parents, carers and community members to join the Bothwell DHS School Association!
Our next meeting is on Tuesday, 18 March, and we’d love to see new faces. It’s a great opportunity to connect, share ideas, and contribute to making our school the best it can be. Come along, have your voice heard, and be part of a positive and engaged school community. The School Association will be hosting nibbles from 5.00 pm, followed by the AGM in the Bothwell Meeting Room. We hope to see you there!
Executive positions of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are up for re-nomination, together with Staff Representatives.
We look forward to another productive and inspiring term ahead. Thank you for your continued support in making Bothwell DHS a fantastic place for learning and growth.
Kind Regards
Erika Boas
Principal
Our Reading Focus:
PLD
The phonics program used in the Kinder to grade 6 space is called PLD (Promoting Literacy Development). This provides a structured, evidence-based approach that is aligned with the Science of Reading. PLD uses methods derived from speech pathology, occupational therapy and education to target students' oral language, motor and movement, and literacy skills. Our teachers are all use PLD data to help support spelling and reading groups in the primary space.
MacqLIT Reading Program
This year we are supporting some of our students with a systematic and explicit reading program known as the Macqlit Reading Program. The program is being delivered this term by our TA's Milinda and Kimmi, who have both undertaken training in the program. The aim of the program is to assist students to ‘catch up’ in their word knowledge, fluency and comprehension, particularly where some gaps have been identified through our screening testing.
Parents of students who will be targeted for the program have already been notified and is the aim is that students may enter the program and leave the program throughout the year. They may re-enter in future years.
The program is delivered small groups and for best results, students are to complete four sessions per week. We encourage regular school attendance for students to maximise this opportunity to bridge gaps in their learning.
NAPLAN Testing
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The tests will occur from Wed 12 March to Mon 24th March.
NAPLAN is made up of tests in the 4 areas (or ‘domains’) of:
- reading
- writing
- conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
- numeracy.
NAPLAN tests are one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Each teacher will have the best insight into their students’ educational progress.
Parents/carers can use NAPLAN reports, along with other school assessment reports, to discuss their child’s strengths and areas for improvement with their teacher.
NAPLAN results do not measure overall school quality.
For more information about NAPLAN, please visit: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers
Our Wellbeing Focus:
Our Wellbeing Focus:
As part of our Wellbeing initiatives in 2025, all classrooms with have fruit baskets for students to grab an item at fruit breaks/ break times. A reminder that Breakfast Club occurs every Wednesday morning also.
We remind families that this year we ask that 2-minute noodle packets and noodle cups are not brought to school. As a lunch item, they are not the most nutritious or filling and for student safety, as we don’t allow students direct access to hot water, we don’t want staff time drawn away for other duties and towards heating up these items. Students are to bring to school food items that don’t require reheating, and we thank you for supporting us with this transition.
Wellbeing Check ins
This term we will soon be introducing fortnightly wellbeing check ins as a way for our students to keep us informed of any worries or concerns. More information will be shared about these surveys soon.
Introducing our Support Team
School Psychologist – Ms Charlotte Calvert
Charlotte will be in our school fortnightly on Tuesdays. As part of her role, Charlotte offers:
- Counselling, therapy and programs for students and school communities
- Assessments of developmental, cognitive and educational functioning to assist learning plans and educational adjustments for student learning
- Consultation and collaboration with schools, staff, parents and other professionals and organisations
- Leadership, advice and support in response to crises and critical incidents that impact upon students, families and school communities
- Provide advice regarding and implementation of evidence-based group programs for students to
assist school improvement and student wellbeing
School Health Nurse – Mrs Hilary Semmens
Hilary will be in our school every Wednesday. As part of her role, Hilary offers:
- Hearing and Vision screening
- Positive Mental Health strategies e.g.: Mindfulness
- Oral Health
- Sexual Health, Puberty and Periods
- Decreasing alcohol and drug use (including smoking and vaping)
- Gender and Sexuality
- Sleep
- Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Support booking health services such as GP and dentist appointments.
School Social Worker – Ms Belle Creavin
Belle will be in our school every Wednesday. As part of her role, Belle offers support with:
- emergency financial assistance
- personal safety and wellbeing
- attendance and retention
- relationships
- mental health: depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts
- grief and loss
- parenting support
- homelessness
- pregnancy
- sexual health
- sexuality
- drugs and alcohol
- critical incidents
- bullying
- conflict resolution and restorative justice.
Access and referral to either Charlotte, Hilary or Belle:
Generally, students are referred by teaching staff or parents and brought to the attention of senior staff.
Parents/Guardians can make referrals directly or through school staff and a referral form is completed.
If there are any concerns about a young person’s physical or mental health, it is always recommended that families also consult with their General Practitioner (GP).
Learning Showcase:
K/P:
Kinder/Preps have had a fantastic start to the year! We have been learning the routines and expectations of the classroom. The Kinder students have settled into their learning and have been enjoying hands-on activities, from sensory play to arts and crafts, helping them grow their fine motor skills. Meanwhile, our prep students have started to dive into reading, writing and numeracy skills.
Outside of class, students have been enjoying time on the playground, learning how to navigate the outdoor spaces, and practising important social skills like sharing, taking turns, and being kind to one another.
It’s wonderful to see the students’ confidence grow as they develop a sense of belonging within their classroom. They are already showing us their creativity, curiosity, and eagerness to learn, and we can't wait to see how they continue to thrive throughout the year.
Miss Jones
P/1/2:
We have been investigating push and pull forces in science. We spent an afternoon exploring who has the stronger pull force in a game of tug-of-war. We had a lot of fun and quickly discovered that the Prep/1/2s have a much stronger pull force than Miss Dilger.
3/4:
Students have been exploring number and the values that whole numbers represent. We have been identifying the importance of 0 and its role as a place holder, as well as examining numbers in their expanded form.
5/6
Our students enjoyed a game of Golf for their P.E. Lesson. As you can see from the photos the students had a wonderful time.
7-10 Maths
The 7-10's showed they could learn maths in a variety of ways and have fun doing it together. Games that involve maths are a good bonding opportunity that can be used at home with families. The students get quite competitive, and it is amazing how good their maths can be when they are trying to compete.
7/8:
Students have started preparations for participating in the ASX Stock Market Game as part of their Economics and Business syllabus. Permission notes have gone home and if there are any concerns, please contact Mrs Helen Doyle.
9/10:
The 9/10 students have settled in well to their new timetable, which incorporates new specialisation opportunities as well as the enrolment in the Certificate 1 in Workplace Skills. This year students are studying Humanities, which combines English and HASS, including incorporating a study of Gallipoli to commemorate the 110 year anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove. The 9/10 students will be researching the ANZACS who went to Gallipoli from Bothwell. If you have any family history on any of these young men and women, we would be grateful if you could share it with us. Please speak to Mrs Helen Doyle or email her on helen.doyle@decyp.tas.gov.au. Later in the term, we will receive a Memorial Box from the Australian War Memorial to further advance the students' knowledge of this defining period of time in Australia’s History. The Memorial Box is filled with real and replica uniforms, engaging learning resources, equipment and artefacts.
We are once again focussing on reading with two reading group lessons per week. We encourage our students to borrow books from our really well-resourced library and if there is anything in particular students would like to read please speak to their humanities teachers or the librarian, Brigette.
11/12
We welcome, 4 Year 11’s and 2 Year 12’s to our wonderful Year 11/12 space. We were able to get a grant to furnish the study area so that each student has their own working space, including twin monitors, ergonomic chairs, new keyboards and mice etc. This area simulates a working office environment that our students may encounter in the workplace. Our 6 students are all undertaking a Certificate II in Workplace Skills and having the opportunity to work in an environment that is as close to the real world is crucial to their success.
As part of the grant, we were also very fortunate to be able to purchase a coffee machine and grinder and the other equipment necessary to work as a Barista. Anyone attending the Family afternoon in Week 3, would have had the opportunity to sample coffees and hot chocolates made by some of our wonderful students. I can already witness the development of their abilities to work in a team and to communicate.
Celebrating student success:
Our first Celebration Assembly for the year will be held on Thursday 13th March. We will publish the names of our Values Certificate and Prize winners in the next Newsletter.
Congratulations to Danielle, Robert and Sophie.
During the Australia Day Awards Ceremony in Hamilton this year, three of our students were jointly awarded Young Citizen of the Year Awards.
Specialised subject showcase (e.g. Ag Studies Music, HPE...)
Cooking Options:
Our first week of our Food Studies option line began with an introduction of kitchen safety, before getting straight into creating a fruit salad to practice knife skills and look into what foods work best and at what stage they should be added to keep it fresh and tasty.
For the second week of Food Studies, our students made Easy Singapore Chicken Vermicelli Noodle stir fry.
We hope all the families enjoyed the taster.
Ag Studies:
We have had a busy few weeks back at school in our Ag space! Each class have had a farm walk to see what has changed over the Summer, identified jobs we need to do and become familiar with our space again. During the first few weeks we have a very strong emphasis on being safe on farms and have had some great conversations about how we can keep ourselves and other safe! We also discuss what we would like to learn about throughout the year, the students have had so many great ideas!
We have also welcomed our new young chooks to our school! Egg-citing!
Here are some of our learning so far!
*We have noticed that most of our native plants around the swale have survived and grown! We have noticed out Hazelnut trees have green Hazelnuts on them!
*Most of the primary students have harvest and eaten some carrots from out garden!
*K-2 have been busy reading stories, investigating the Ag room space, having picnics before lunch!
*The 3/4s have harvested, prepared and tried some corn from the garden! We have also created some designs for our greenhouse.
*The 5/6s are doing a growing challenge with Back Radish seeds for the TIA competition help at AGFEST! As a part of this we have been doing some soil testing and planting the seeds in different soils. We have also created some designs for our greenhouse.
*The 7-10's have been discussing the many opportunities that are coming their way this year! We have also been cleaning up around the swale, soil testing and pruning flowers/plants around the school. Some students have even already completed some online farm safety modules!
Miss B and Jo.
Before and After School Care Survey
We are seeking information regarding interest in Before and After School Care for Bothwell DHS students to support community groups who are keen to see more care provision in Bothwell. If this is an area of interest to you as a parent, could you please complete this short survey. Please note that this Survey is not about Long Day Care. Any queries and requests there are to be forwarded to local Council.
Introducing our Student Leaders for 2025:
Congratulations to our two School Captains – Robert and Lilli.
Congratulations to our two House Captains – Kaitlyn and Ella.
Reminders
Athletics Carnival
Our Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 11th August from 10.30– 2.45.
We will be holding a BBQ lunch between 12.45 and 1.45pm and families are most welcome to attend the event and enjoy the BBQ with us.
Students can also enjoy an icy pole on the day to celebrate participation.
Bothwell Library change of hours.
Now open all day Wednesday 10.00 a.m. 1.00.p.m. - 1.30 p.m. till 6.00 p.m.
Hope to see you all soon.