Dear families,

These past few weeks have provided me many opportunities to pause and appreciate my role here at this incredible school.  

As the frosty mornings often turn into brilliant blue-sky days, I enjoy watching and joining our young people in their recess and lunch sporting events. For those days where the sun doesn’t show itself and the wind blows, we instituted a change to our recess and lunch routine at the start of this week. Grade 3-12 students now have access to our gym every recess and lunch and our library will be open every recess and lunch for primary school students. Both spaces have already been well-attended, and students have appreciated that they have an alternative, warmer indoor space at break times. The gym will be open year-round and the library in Terms 2 and 3. 

I also met with our secondary student leaders earlier this week and they made a strong case to me that we should participate in the Recycle Rewards Scheme. They are continuing to plan for our participation.  I encourage you to reach out if you own or run a local business and would like to partner with us. Please ‘watch this space’ for some messaging from our secondary leaders. 

Although I was required in Launceston on the day, I was pleased to hear reports that our Cross Country was very successful. I know that many of you had the opportunity to attend on the day and will join me in thanking staff for their efforts to make it a successful event. I hope to be able to attend some of the upcoming inter-school events too, which are significant points of celebration for those students who were more competitive on the day. 

Finally, I am thrilled to report that our new Ag Building has been officially opened. Students and staff were joined by The Hon Jo Palmer, MLC, Minister for Education and other VIPs this morning as we celebrated the completion of this $2.25 million dollar project. This space is currently well-utilised by our VET Agriculture Program as well as other Grade 11/12 classes and it will allow us to be more creative and courageous in the future as we explore other programs and classes in the agricultural arena.  

Minister Palmer quite rightly celebrated Ms Jill Bennett (Senior School AST) for her passion for Agricultural Education and I join her in also celebrating the contribution and passion of Ms Julie Howard (retired) for her advocacy over a number of years, which resulted in this incredible new facility. 

Over the next few weeks we look forward to the Campbell Town Show and primary and secondary inter-school cross country carnivals. As noted on the calendar, please remember there is a four-day weekend for students coming up from the 6th - 9th June. 

David Bryant,

Acting Principal

On Friday the 16th of May Wether Challenge students plus a year 11 student, had the opportunity to learn about Wool Handling from Mel Morris from Elders. Mel dropped in for a couple of hours to give students the finer pointers on picking up and throwing fleeces, in preparation for the Campbell Town Show Schools Wool Handling Competition at the end of this month.

Our students worked really hard on developing their capabilities. It was great to see teamwork being developed as they supported each other. Felicity fleece was well utilised to practise finding the back legs and throwing the bundle onto the table. Well done to Lilly, Makayla, Dane, Ruby, Charlotte and Callum. Great questions asked, good listening and fantastic participation.

A big thank you goes to Craig Loosmoore, a local retired shearer, who picked up sheep to shear, put up our new shearing machine and shore the sheep for students to practise their skills on. It was great to see our facilities being used as they are designed.

We will have another practise session this coming Friday before hitting the big time at the show. Please come and support our students to win the trophy.

Thanks to Craig, Mel and Andrew Baker in their support in teaching our students. Andrew and Craig are supplying the sheep to be shorn. I am grateful to Craig for transporting the sheep.

Jill Bennett

11/12 AST

School Cross Country Carnival 2025 – A Day of Colour, Competition, and Courage!

We were lucky to enjoy perfect cross-country conditions for our 2025 carnival, and our students rose to the challenge with fantastic energy and effort across every race. The competition was tighter than in recent years, making every point count, and Elizabeth House claimed a well-deserved victory in a very close finish! 

A standout performance came from Ava, who once again made history by breaking the Grade 9 Girls record - her third consecutive year setting a new benchmark! What an achievement! 

The carnival started in style with the ever-popular Best Dressed Competition, featuring a very entertaining catwalk parade. Thank you to our student leaders for organising such a fun and inclusive start to the day - there were plenty of laughs and lots of colour!

Congratulations to all students for showing determination, school spirit, and sportsmanship throughout the day. We are incredibly proud of your efforts!

Ashlee Lowe

HPE Teacher

Are you ready for the biggest and best cross-country event on the Tasmanian calendar?

Entries for the 2025 All Schools Cross Country events are now open, and you don't need to qualify in a local competition to be a part of it. All school participants are welcome!

Visit the links below for more information and to enter:

Secondary - 12th of June:

https://www.tasathletics.org.au/events/294447

https://www.onlineentry.com.au/XCSecondary_Tas_2025.aspx

Primary - 17th of June:

https://www.tasathletics.org.au/events/294585

https://www.onlineentry.com.au/XCPrimary_Tas_2025.aspx

Reporting when something goes wrong online

If your child experiences something harmful online such as cyberbullying, image-based abuse or illegal and restricted content, you can report it directly to the social media service, game, app or website where the incident occurred.

Often young people will need the support of an adult to report. The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety.gov.au) advises taking the following steps:

1. Collect evidence before reporting to the platform or taking other action. If the issue is ongoing, make sure you collect screenshots showing what has been happening and for how long.
2. Report to the platform where it happened. Use The eSafety Guide to help you. After you report, the service may remove the content straight away. They may also block those responsible or delete their account. If the post involves something illegal like grooming, they may refer it to law enforcement or another agency to take further action.
3. If the platform does not take action, you or your child can report it to eSafety. eSafety will ask you to complete an online reporting form and include evidence.

Lyrae Rattray

Safeguarding Lead