Dear Parents, Students and Friends of Prospect High School,

Relay for Life

On Saturday, 13^th March and Sunday, 14^th March the SLB participated in Relay for Life at St Leonards Athletic Centre. There were many laps completed over the two days. Thank you to the student leaders and staff who worked around their weekend commitments to make time for this very worthy cause. A BIG thank you to Mrs Carmen Slore and Mr Steve Andrews, for the time they dedicated to this event. Prospect High School can be very proud of the students who participated.

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to staff and students on the successful swimming carnival held last week. The HPE team were very creative with organisation and were able to cater for many students and still adhere to Covid restrictions. Well done to participants and congratulations to Impara for winning. The day was a great mix of races and novelty events with good participation and fantastic encouragement from spectators. Congratulations to place getters and record breakers. There will be an acknowledgement of record breakers at the next whole school assembly. Many thanks to the HPE team, in particular, Mrs Carmen Slore for organising the day and to non-teaching and teaching teams for their help and support on the day.

Science and Engineering Challenge

Prospect High School was represented by a creative group of students who used their problem-solving skills and STEM knowledge to solve a range of challenges at the Science and Engineering Challenge at UTAS. Prospect High School did well on the bridge building competition and had many other successes. Congratulations to this team who were excellent ambassadors for Prospect High School. We came a very credible fourth position, the best place in recent times. Thank you to Mrs Matthews for organising students.

Northern Orienteering Championships

Last Friday Prospect High School entered the Northern Schools Orienteering Championships and finished with outstanding results being placed second in the Senior Division.  Congratulations to Henry, Griffin, Logan, Georgia, Nikki, Chloe and Jollie (Junior division) and Zac, Zach, Jada, Emily, Zoe, Diesel, Summer, Rydar (Senior division) who were placed in the top 10 within their class/division. Congratulations to Riley who was placed first in his division, and best wishes for this coming weekend where he will be representing Prospect High School in the Tasmanian School Championships on Sunday at Oatlands.

Reports

Parents received interim reports on 19^th March. These reports give parents/carers an indication of how their child/ren have begun the year. On the whole, students have begun very positively and have been producing excellent work.  Thank you to the parents who attended parent-teacher yesterday.  Conversations about reports were reflective and very valuable in assisting parents to understand how their children can improve in various subjects.

NAPLAN

This year NAPLAN testing for Grade 7 and 9 will be done online and held from the 11th to 24th May 2021. Students will use Prospect High School computers that have the necessary settings. In preparation, students will undertake a practice test next term. This will help students adjust to the new platform and become familiar with the types of questions that will be asked.

School Association

A reminder that the School Association AGM meeting will be held next Tuesday 30^th April at 5.00pm in the meeting room. This is an opportunity for parents to gain an understanding of the running of Prospect High School and also have an input into decision making and hence a voice at the school. There are a number of office bearing positions available that will be decided upon. New members are welcome.

End of Term

The term is very quickly drawing to a close. I would like to remind parents that the term finishes on Thursday 11^th April. The final day of Term 1, Thursday 1^sttApril is a Student Free Day for Grades 7 to 10 students. Prospect High School staff will spend the day at various high schools working with teachers from 14 other high schools in the Northern region on moderation. Moderation of work samples is an important process that ensures teachers are aligning with what is taught in the Australian Curriculum and that there is consistency of judgement when assessing student work using the Australian Curriculum achievement standards. 

Lee Barker (Mrs)

Principal

Mrs Lee Barker
Principal

Monday, 22^nd of September a group of 32 students attended the Science and Engineering Challenge at the Albert Hall, Launceston. The students were allocated half day or full day activities in groups of four. Prospect High School competed against seven other schools on the day and achieved 4^th for the event which is an excellent outcome. Two of our groups finished first overall for the day in their tasks, Future Power and Turbine. TasWater donated some wonderful prizes for the winners of the Turbine activity which were greatly appreciated.

The tasks are designed to test ingenuity and the ability to solve real-world problems using skills from Mathematics, Science, Engineering, Coding and Design. Ultimately, teamwork is what makes or breaks a group. The staff and students had a fantastic day and were proud to be a part of such a wonderful opportunity.  A quote from one student was "...that was 40 times better than I thought it was going to be”.  Thank you to the sponsors of the event, the University of Newcastle and the University of Tasmania, the Albert Hall, TasWater, the Tasmanian Government, and the Rotary Clubs of Tasmania.

On Monday 15^th March the proprietor of Ritual Coffee- Tim Jarosz came to Prospect High School to give our Year 11 Work Pathways and Catering students a masterclass in espresso coffee making. Tim fine-tuned our brand new coffee machine and grinder, explained, demonstrated milk texturing techniques, and gave us invaluable, additional tips to enhance our barista skills. We are thrilled to support a local coffee roasting business and serve Ritual coffee in our Café; this aligns closely with our ethos of sustainability and awareness of our local industries. Special thanks to Tim for sparing some time to enhance our student’s understanding of the “magic bean” and treating it with respect and care.

The Eagles Nest Café is open for business during class times and involves Catering, Work Pathways and Tier 2 Engagement students who practice customer service, coffee machine maintenance and care, organisation, and the art of making a great coffee. In the near future, we are aiming to makeover our Eagles Nest Café to develop it into a welcoming space for staff and students to enjoy a wider range of drinks and hospitality.

Watch this space for more developments!

Adrienne McMahon and Jennifer Pollard

Grade 8 Art classes are exploding with creativity!

Students are being influenced by the work of Rex Ray and Henri Matisse to create a ‘cut-out’ collage in a Colour Harmony of their choice. Through investigating colour, students have planned artworks, creating original designs that represent their understanding.

Students are then translating that collage to a large scale abstract painting.

Mrs Derbyshire is so impressed with the focus and engagement in learning taking place in her two art classes! Look out for a display of works early in Term 2.

7.3 Introduction to Drama

Trips to MacDonalds, gaol breaks, car accidents, terrible parenting, kidnappings, burglaries, people rising from the dead – it’s all been happening in Grade 7 Drama! But don’t be alarmed, all of these events have come from the creative minds of the students in 7.3! Throughout the year each of the Grade 7 classes have the opportunity to study Drama. In this introductory course, the students learn about the Elements of Drama and how they can be used to create performances that both entertain and convey ideas. 7.3 are now partway through their course and have just begun work on one of their final assessments, where they have to create characters that they then have to put into a scene. I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

8 & 9/10 Full Year Drama

Students in grades 8-10 Drama are currently working towards their first major performance assessment, and for many, this means presenting two pieces in the upcoming Launceston Competitions.

Students in both classes are rehearsing a whole class speaking presentation, where they must recite a piece of poetry and section of prose as a class. It has been really interesting seeing these pieces develop, especially as the students become more confident taking on a directorial role, suggesting and experimenting with different performance ideas.

In addition to the whole class pieces, the 8s and 9/10s are also developing small group presentations. For the 9/10s this involves building a play from scratch, while the 8s are focussing on interpreting and presenting a scripted scene.

Next term we will be full steam ahead preparing to present in the Launceston Competitions!

Grade 8 Playbuilding

Last year the PHS Grade 8 Playbuilding class devised a play that was shared with students from our local primary schools. Incorporating comedy, dance, serious scenes and information, the play explored issues and concerns that many students face as they transition from primary to high school. In 2021 the grade 8 Playbuilding class are set to do it again! Throughout this term, the class has been busy developing content for a whole new play. The script is coming together well with only a few scenes left to add. In Term 4, when we come back together, we will begin full-on rehearsals of our finished script. Developing a full-length play from scratch is not an easy process and the class deserves a big ‘well done’ for their work so far!

Mrs Viney

On Thursday the 18^th of March, we went the Aquatic Centre to participate in our annual Swimming Carnival. We had such an eventful day with many people breaking records from so many years ago. Thank you to all staff and student leaders who assisted with setting up and making the day run smoothly. We would like to congratulate every student who participated and an extra congratulations to the students who broke records. Good luck to the Inter-High team who are competing in Division 1 next Wednesday! Written By: Amber Gr10

Swimming champions

Record Breakers

On Friday the 19^th of March, 30 students represented Prospect High School in the Northern Orienteering Championships.

Please see the results below for the PHS students who were placed in the top 10 in their class/division.

PHS came away with 2^nd in the Senior class.

We also wish Riley all the best for this coming Sunday when he will be representing Prospect High School in the Tasmanian School Championships in Oatlands.

Grade 7

Sienna 7-3 has been nominated for a working wonder this week for her fantastic start to high school. Sienna is a very respectful, considerate and hard-working member of her class. She always listens carefully to instructions and completes all tasks to the best of her ability. Keep up the great work Sienna!

Jacob 7-3 has been nominated for a working wonder this week for his positive and mature approach to learning. Jacob asks good questions, volunteers his ideas, and supports his peers with their learning. Well done Jacob!

Grade 10

Tiana  – Well done, Tiana, for making yourself available to be a reserve for the Science and Engineering Challenge this week. It was fantastic to have a student who was not concerned about who they worked with and willing to give anything a try. Your positivity and respect for the team you were placed in on the day helped you all to achieve first place in your activity. Congratulations and thank you.

 Jahlil – Well done Jahlil for upholding the values of respect and empathy for all the students and teachers you work with at Prospect High School. You are to be commended for your honesty and resilience and also your effort towards your studies this year. Keep up the good work.

School Executive

Principal
Mrs Lee Barker

Assistant Principals
Mr Mario Bergamin and Ms Bonnie Hall

School Business Manager
Mrs Debbie Chancellor

Grade Teams

Senior Grade Leaders
Grade 7 Mrs Anna Musovic
Grade 8 Mr Brendan Poke
Grade 9 Ms Sandra De Paoli
Grade 10 Mrs Carmen Slore
Years 11/12 Ms Jennifer Pollard

Grade Leaders
Grade 7 Mrs Katrina Dawkins and Mr Scott Brewer
Grade 8 Mrs Hannah Derbyshire and Mr Brad Colson
Grade 9 Mr Will Reynolds and Mrs Leonie Smith
Grade 10 Mrs Sonya Matthews and Mr Steven Andrews
Years 11/12 Mrs Jan Phillips

Support Staff

School Psychologist
Mr Gene Colgrave
(Mondays and Fridays)

School Social Worker
Mr Brendan Dixon
(Wednesdays, alternate Thursdays and Fridays)

School Health Nurse
Mrs Mia Blair
(Tuesdays and alternate Fridays)

Chaplain
Mr Lachie Unwin
(Tuesdays and Thursdays)