Dear families,

Welcome to another edition of our fortnightly newsletter. With the very successful External School Review now behind us, I have enjoyed the opportunity to be more present in classrooms and around the school. Activities students have been engaged in recently have certainly been rich and varied. As well as those detailed below, I note that students have also embraced opportunities including the RACT Drivers Education Program and our Quad Bike and side by side safety program (one of the only ones in the State).  We also had a visit from the Royal Flying Doctor Service on Wednesday and they taught most primary students about dental health and oral hygiene.  Finally, Grade 4 to 10 students were inspired by a visit from the 2025 Tasmanian Australians of the Year Sam Elsom, Ariarne Titmus and Keren Franks earlier this week.

National Science Week

This week, students have engaged in a variety of activities.

Some of the highlights of the week were the Grade 3 excursion to Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery on Wednesday. Students were filled with excitement as they got off the buses in the afternoon and teachers report that the exhibition was fabulous. My thanks to Mrs Fitzallen for organising and leading this excursion.

There was also an incredible celebration of National Science Week yesterday. Under the guidance of our Science and Art teacher, Mrs Barber, high school students have been working for weeks to put together a science expo. It all came together yesterday as our primary school students toured the exhibition. They saw rockets, learned how to make bouncy balls and sugar crystals, learned about how magnets work and so much more! It truly was inspiring to see the way that our high schoolers had worked so hard to prepare their exhibitions and the enthusiasm and warmth with which they embraced our younger students.

I will have exciting information to share related to Science and STEM soon (involving a significant grant to the school for some extension and enrichment activities in Term 4 and into 2026).

National Book Week

Of course our focus on extra-curricular activities continues next week with National Book Week. With a variety of activities across the week, culminating in students and staff dressing as their favourite character on Thursday, it promises to be an exciting and interesting week. I look forward to reporting back on it in the future.

Help us name our calves?

If you missed it on Facebook, please help us name our calves. Classes have put forward some names and now it is time to vote. I wonder if you, like me, are interested in trying to work out which names came from our younger students and which from our older ones? Please vote here: https://forms.office.com/r/bCwy791mAK

Next School Association meeting

The next meeting is an opportunity to share more detail of the affirmation and recommendations following our recent School Review. It will be held on Monday 8th September at 9.00am and everyone is welcome.

Staffing changes

From the end of next week our Support AST Mrs Taylor-Hambleton will commence leave until the end of the term. Ms Rachel Hodge will backfill the important Support AST role during this time.

Mrs Lydon (our secondary AST) will also take on the key responsibilities aligned with our Instructional Specialist role from next week until the end of the year. Mrs Lydon will be responsible for monitoring and supporting our implementation of the Lifting Literacy priority and planning for further improvement next year.

To facilitate this, Mrs Lydon will share the Secondary Leadership role with Mr Tom Hodge. Mr Hodge is known and trusted by our secondary students and families and will, I know, continue the high levels of support currently offered by Mrs Lydon. Consequently, Ms Hoang will take on some of Mr Hodge’s teaching responsibilities. We will share more detailed information with families of affected classes soon.

Finally I want to give an early heads-up that we will again celebrate the end of term with another Big Breakfast on the last day of term (Friday 26th September). This morning will also serve as the culmination of Mental Health Week. Please save the date.

Thankyou for your ongoing support of the school as we work together to support the academic and social development of our young people.

David Bryant,

Acting Principal