Celebrating Achievements and Looking Forward

Dear Wynyard High School Parents/Guardians,

As we reach the midpoint of Term 1, it is a pleasure to reflect on the accomplishments and exciting developments within our school community.

Highlights:

Year Assemblies and Recognition of Respect:

Our recent year assemblies were a moment of pride as we acknowledged the commitment and actions of 14 outstanding students who exemplify our core value of Respect. Their positive influence contributes significantly to the respectful atmosphere within our school.

General Merit Awards:

I would also like to pass my congratulations onto the following students who recieved values awards at our whole school assembly this week. 

Ciara H

Maddisson S

Olivia M

Rhylee F

Sommer B

Zachary M

Amelia D

Coopa W

Isabella E

Jett J

Makayla W

Nelly E

Sianna H

Alissah F

Ayrlee R

Bonni M

Cayla W

Chaz M

Indy L

James B

Keenan P

Mary-Jane W

Miah S

Olivia D

Rhiannon B

River H

Ryder R

Tait G

Alaiyah A

Baxter R

James J

Joseph H

Luka W

Mani S

Rhani S

Shyann L

Trae B

Adeline W

Carter M

Whole School Reading Program:

The enthusiasm for our Whole School Reading Program is infectious. Across all year levels, students are embracing the joy of reading, expanding their horizons, and fostering a lifelong love for literature.

Mrs Baly and our outstanding teaching team has been working tirelessly to emphasise the importance of reading as the foundation of success in all areas of the curriculum. Reading is not just a skill; it is an enabler, opening doors to endless possibilities.

Let us continue to celebrate achievements, foster a lifelong passion for learning, and collaborate to ensure the success of each student.

Thank you families for your continued support.

Surf Carnival Success:

Congratulations to Austin House and all our year level surf champions for their outstanding performance at the Surf Carnival. The high levels of participation and sportsmanship exhibited by all are a testament to the vibrant spirit of our school.

Packages of Learning in Hospitality and Tourism:

Our Hospitality and Tourism class is forging meaningful connections with the community through collaborations with BigHART and the Wynyard Yacht Club. These experiences extend learning beyond the classroom, providing valuable insights into practical applications of their studies.

School Oval Redevelopment:

The progress on the school oval redevelopment is remarkable. This enhancement not only benefits Wynyard High School but also local sports clubs. The outstanding facilities under development will undoubtedly contribute to a positive sporting environment for our students and the broader community. I thank the Wynyard-Waratah Council for their support and funding of this project.

Upcoming Events and Important Dates:

School Reports and Progress Reports Mailed Home (15 March):

Expect the arrival of school reports and progress reports on 15 March. These documents offer valuable insights into each student's academic journey and achievements.

Parent-Teacher Evenings (25 and 26 March):

Join us for Parent-Teacher Evenings on 25 and 26 of March. These sessions provide an opportunity for meaningful discussions about student progress, strategies, and future goals.

School Priorities: Attendance

Attendance:

Ensuring the attendance of all students at 90% or more remains a top priority. This level of attendance provides the best possible opportunity for success, enabling students to transition smoothly to further education, training, and future work opportunities.

Our annual Surf Carnival took place at Boat Harbour beach on Friday, 1 March. The crystal-clear water, good weather, and mild conditions made for a very enjoyable day. As students piled off the bus, the beach and surroundings felt brighter and the students enthused as the competition got underway.

Being the first carnival of the year, students seemed excited as they approached their first events. Year 7 appearing ready for the unknown, Years 8 and 9 hyping themselves up for the cold-water conditions, and Year 10 ready and prepared for what they were going to face.

The competition was fierce this year. Jenner was thought to have the win secured after a few good years of dominating the competition. However, this was challenged due to Gibbons recruiting extremely well in the off season, this showed with a good start from some Year 7 students in Gibbons. After Jenner losing a few greats from last year’s Year 10’s, Gibbons looked good to take home the win at this carnival. While the fierce competition between these two houses took place, Austin saw this as an opportunity to strike. With this, they overtook both Jenner and Gibbons to make an extremely close finish, taking home first place.

Each student and house should be proud of their efforts on the day, remembering to celebrate their achievements before we shift focus to our next school carnival. It was great to see so many students participating, acting on the constant messages about applying sunscreen and staying hydrated, as well as the encouragement that was shown amongst peers.

Many thanks must be extended to the numerous members of the Boat Harbour Beach Surf Lifesaving Club and volunteers who gave up their time to help the day run smoothly. We appreciate the teachers who helped organise this carnival, as well as the staff support on the day. To our house captains who took the harsh, early morning rise to get to the beach to help set up, we appreciate your time, effort, and leadership skills that you displayed on the day.

This year’s Surf Carnival Champions are listed below, along with the house points.

House Results

Reading is a vital life skill, yet in Tasmania one in three people identify as having difficulty reading or making meaning from text. As a result, the Department of Education (DECYP) has launched a Lifting Literacy Priority across the system to increase the literacy standards of Tasmanians.

Across the nation, NAPLAN results have shown when students move to high school, reading scores drop dramatically. Research has shown that this is not necessarily because students are unable to read, but that in high school, students are required to read much more complex, subject specific texts and vocabulary.

For students to become more successful at reading for understanding in high school, we need to teach them the skills to be able to access these complex texts, be able to make sense of them and to be able to transfer these skills to their writing.

At WHS, we have long recognised the importance of reading skills in our students and supported this through Home Group reading programs, Buddy to Buddy Reading, and explicitly teaching reading comprehension skills in all classes. This is backed by the amazing results we saw as a whole school in 2023 around our reading progress. This year, we have launched the Reading Between the Lines program, which is a targeted literacy intervention/extension program. This will allow us to explicitly teach reading comprehension skills and the skills needed to understand the complex subject specific texts that students are expected to read in class every day. The intent of the Reading Between the Lines program is to strengthen students understanding of how to comprehend complex, subject specific texts and to be able to use those skills to support them when completing written assignments within those subjects.

While some students need more intensive reading support, the majority of students will be explicitly taught skills to help them read and understand all texts effectively across all subject areas. This includes annotating texts, using word origins to understand unknown words (understanding aqua/hydro =water, then hydroponics will have something to do with water), accessing real life subject specific texts like scientific reports and articles and unpacking their written structure as a class so that they can then write in a similar fashion.

We know that there is a close link between reading and writing, so allowing our students time to carefully look at how a scientific report, historical essay, or analysis of a visual text is written, the language and vocabulary used, the structure of sentences and the way information is communicated is going to benefit both students reading and writing abilities.

Each week students will be exposed to a variety of different texts from all subject areas including health brochures, scientific articles, historical documents, multimedia texts and more. In each case, students will be explicitly taught strategies to help them understand the text better, and identify ways in which these texts are different from others, so that they can produce similar texts in those subject areas. These reading sessions will be skills based and students will be moved into groups that match their current needs. As students progress, or need additional support they will move across other groups.

Reading in Tasmanian Government Schools

Learning to read sets you up for life

Reading is foundational to everything we do – learning, working, functioning in society.

Every young Tasmanian should have the reading skills they need when they leave our schools.

This year all Tasmanian Government schools are taking steps to introduce a new way of teaching reading. This follows the latest national and international research about how our brains learn to read.

What does the research say?

Children aren’t born with natural skills in reading, like they are for walking and talking. They must develop new pathways in their brain to master this skill. It is a complex process.

Current research shows that reading can be broken down into a series of skills. This starts with phonics –the relationship between letters and sounds. In upper primary, secondary and college, the focus shifts to reading comprehension.

At every stage it’s important that students master all the individual skills before moving on. This is the best way to set them up for success.

Our teachers are boosting their skills

From 2024 all our teachers will be undergoing training in how to teach reading based on the latest evidence.

Importantly, all staff from Kindergarten to Year 12 will be doing the same training. This means that by 2026, no matter where your child goes to school, they will be taught to become confident readers in the same way.

You might see changes at your school

All schools are at different stages with putting these changes in place. You and your child might notice these changes already happening at your school. Other schools will be working towards change by 2026.

Read more about Tasmania’s new approach to reading on the Literacy - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

In Year 7 English we have been learning about narrative writing. So far this term, we have explored sizzling story starters, narrative story arc, orientation, and types of conflicts. We look forward to sharing our story starters with you.

The technique used in this story starter is make the reader curious.

My mum wailed from the bathroom, “Help me!” Alarm bells rang in my head. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and forced open the door. My eyes initially darted around the room but quickly focused on the blood splatter that covered the once white walls.

The technique used in this story starter is onomatopoeia.

POP. CRASH! The cork shot from the top of the bottle and smashed straight through the kitchen window.

The technique used in this story starter is use vivid description.

Our hiking group was nearing the misty, snow-covered mountains. The wind roared like a lion and deafened us all. My hair blew uncontrollably like it was caught in a tornado.

The technique used in this story starter is ask a question.

Have you ever had stage fright? Have you ever felt so nervous that when you opened your mouth nothing came out? That is exactly how I felt today while standing on stage in front of my peers.  

Students in Year 7 History have used toothpicks to excavate choc-chips trapped in dry cookie dough. Students reported finding varying sizes and numbers of the highly-valued treasure and said the exercise helped to reinforce the differences between the work of an archaeologist and a historian.

PoL Hospitality and Tourism class have been busy working on a design brief -  'Garden to Plate'. Students harvested produce from our garden and designed a dish/product utilising seasonal produce. Students researched recipes, created a workplan, costed and tested the recipe. They are now evaluating and adjusting their workplan for the final food photography shoot in week 4.  

Our Year 11/12 VET Horticulture class has started the year with propagation workshops at Redbreast Native Plant Nursery. Max generously shares his time and knowledge to help students learn valuable propagation skills.

Students have begun growing beetroot from seed. Many schools around the state have been given the same seed from the Tasmanian Agricultural Institute. The students need to grow the beetroot from seed and present our largest beetroot at Agfest in early May. The seeds have struck and students are experimenting with the new seedlings, some have been directly sown into the soil in the garden bed, whilst others are being grown in larger pots. Last year we came second in the daikon radish growing competition. We hope to do one better this year! 

Our Hospitality students have been given a wonderful opportunity. Working with Chef Isobel and BigHart at the watershed and participating in the Watershed Supper Series. Wynyard High Hospitality students are participating in workshops at the watershed and  are given the opportunity to volunteer at an evening with Bighart staff. Students have been able to improve their hospitality skills with the community dining at the Supper Series, students are to be commended on their wonderful hospitality skills. Make sure you book for the next evening on Wedneday, 27 March with a seafood theme.  

Earlier this term, our PoL Hospitality and Tourism class harvested plums from our orchard and they wasted no time in making plum upside-down tarts. Students donated fifty per cent of their tarts to the ROC Hub, and Live Well Tasmania's volunteers delivered them along with some other produce from our horticulture garden.

We would like to remind our students of the importance of drinking water. Please bring a water bottle (preferably full) to school with you every day.

OFFICE HOURS 8:15am - 3:30pm

Just a reminder that our phone number (TXT only) for students that are/will be absent is 0417 956 280. This number is for TXT notifications only and will not be answered by voice.

Our office phone number for enquiries or attendance reporting is 6442 2385.

Emails can be sent to wynyard.high@decyp.tas.gov.au

You can also be reported absences through the link on the top of this newsletter, or the Schoolzine app.

School uniforms are no longer available to be purchased at school. Cassovic Tasmania is a local supplier who was awarded the contract to supply Wynyard High School with school uniforms.

To order uniforms, please contact Paul on 0419 247 249 or through the below link