26 May 2023

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It was wonderful to see so many families at school over the last fortnight. I hope that those of you who were pampered as part of family week enjoyed the experience. To the family members and friends who supported morning reading, a sincere thank you. We hope you continue to drop in more often and support reading in our classes. Reading with children is so very important as summarised in the table below.

It was also great to see so many families support our cross country/fun run this week. A special congratulations to our LiL families and Poss-M-agic staff and children who did a super job completing the course! I would also like to congratulate Anna Brinsmead who competed in the para events at the recent Tasmanian Primary School State Athletics Carnival. Anna was very successful on the day and threw a personal best in her shot put event!

Congratulations also to Cooper Griffiths. Cooper’s football skills have seen him selected in the under 13 Devils Next Generation Northern Squad.

Our Year 9/10 students were very competitive in the recent Science and Engineering Challenge. Many members of the team are currently in a Science and Engineering elective and it is great to see students choose a range of electives across the Arts, Technologies or Sports domains.

Thank you to families for supporting your child to be in school uniform each day. It is pleasing to see most students wearing school uniform. A reminder that active wear is not part of our uniform code, and that football jumpers and beanies are also not clothing items to be worn at school. If you need support with uniform, please contact your child’s teacher or senior staff, or visit our School Op Shop that stocks a range of second-hand uniform items.

We aim to provide a safe and inclusive environment where your child can engage positively with others and their learning. Our K-2 sector have a new focus, “Sorry and Excuse Me” following on from explicit teaching related to “Please and Thank you” and “smiling and inviting others into our play”. Use of appropriate language will be our secondary focus. This aligns with the new updated Student Behaviour Management Policy that replaces the Respectful Student Behaviour Policy in all Tasmanian Government Schools. As part of this work, we are also working with students on improving positive behaviour at break times. Students are having input into the types of activities they would like to have access to at this time. In addition to the activities already in place, such as Indo Club, we now have music/dance during lunch break for our P-2, 3-6 and secondary students. Craft and netball games have also been scheduled. If you are keen to help with a lunchtime activity of any type, please contact me via the school office.

With thanks,
Anita Haley

WELCOME TO OUR NEW SCHOOL NURSE

Welcome to our new school nurse, Jenn Purtell.

Jenn joined our school last week and will be working on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

CROSS COUNTRY/FUN RUN

Kinder – Grade 2 Photos

Grade 3-6 Photos

KINDER – GRADE 10 PLACINGS

Grade 7-11 Cross Country Colour Run Photos

FINAL POINTS TALLY

SAVE THE DATE!

CANTEEN SPECIALS – TERM 2

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

On Thursday, 11th of May, 29 students from grades 9 and 10 travelled to the University of Tasmania’s Newnham campus to compete in the Science and Engineering challenge. The Science and Engineering Challenge is a successful STEM outreach program by the University of Newcastle in Australia. It inspires and engages secondary school students in science, engineering, and technology through exciting and competitive activities. These activities are designed to appeal to students' interests and encourage exploration of STEM beyond the classroom. By participating, students gain hands-on experience in problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork.

Our students were broken up into 8 teams of 4 to tackle the challenges. The Green Team (Ebony, Xavier, Jackson and Zoe) brought our best result, coming first in the ‘Grasping at Straws’ challenge. For this task the students were asked to design and operate a bionic hand that’s dexterous, strong and inexpensive. This team also came a very respectable second in the ‘Electra City’ challenge. This task was to provide the lowest-cost electricity to the city’s infrastructure.

The main event was a ‘Bridge Building’ challenge. This was tackled by the Silver Team (Sacha, Noah B, Rhys and Finn). The students were required to build a light and strong model bridge that could support a trolley carrying ‘gold’ ingots from one side of a test rig to the other. This provided an exciting culmination to the competition. Although the team didn’t win, they achieved a very respectable third place. All teams put in an outstanding effort during the day and should be commended for the way they proudly represented St Helens District High School.

KINDERGARTEN MOTHERS DAY PAMPERING

To celebrate Families Week Kinder students invited their mums and grandmothers into the Kinder space for a session of ‘luxurious’ pampering. Makeup was done, hairstyles completed and mums were given a manicure to finish off. Many selfies were taken and below are some of the photos taken on the day.

KINDER A PHOTOS

KINDER B PHOTOS

SCHOOL PHOTOS 2023

Just a reminder that school photo days this year will be on Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th June. Photos can be ordered online and family photos (children attending this school) will be available. The timetable for photos will be provided closer to the photo days. Family photos will be taken during recess and lunchtimes.

SCHOOL BEANIES FOR SALE

COMMUNITY EVENTS AND INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION TO CAFÉ SERVICE COURSE

INTRODUCTION TO BARISTA SKILLS COURSE

NAVY CADETS

EAST COAST MOTOCROSS CLUB DAY POSTPONED

ST HELENS SOCCER