23 February 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Carers

The new school year has started with the usual excitement with a hint of anxiety from everyone at Taroona High School. Our first week was a flurry of energy and organised chaos, with old friends re-united and new friends and classmates meeting for the first time. It was great to welcome our Year 7 students and new staff into the Taroona community.

Week 2 was incredibly difficult as Jocelyn Daguman, one of our year 9 students, died as a result of an accident. Our teachers and school staff came together to support and care for everyone affected. Our heartfelt condolences and thoughts are with everyone who was affected and impacted by this tragedy, especially Jocelyn’s family. As I communicated in week 2, supports and resources are available if any member of our community needs them now or in the future. Please contact our office if you need further advice or support.

Week 3 was our first full week, with many students now having a settled timetable and clear understanding about where to go, who would be there and what to expect now that we are into our learning. While the Taroona campus was still adjusting and organising all the final bits and pieces our Year 11/12 students hit the ground running, commencing their TASC courses from day 1 with no lead in! It is an exciting year for our school as we are now officially, and for the first time a Year 7-12 High School!

As previously shared, our commitments this year are to have high expectations of every learner in every class through achievement in all units and learning opportunities and also completion of all the work that is assigned. We will be sharing your child’s progress against these throughout the year, with our first report coming home this term. We are also working hard to support this learning with formative assessment/feedback through our unit rubrics.

These rubrics allow each student to know where they are up to in their learning and how to improve it due to the feedback from their teachers. Lastly we have an ongoing and purposeful focus on improving the wellbeing of each and every learner to enable them to be the best learner they can be.

In closing a reminder that our School Association will be holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM) at 7:00pm in the THS Staffroom on Monday the 20th of March. A School Association meeting will be held straight after the (quick) AGM, and all parents are welcome and encouraged to attend. Thank you to those parents who already expressed an interest in attending and making our school the best that it can be.

All the best

Charles White
Principal

Year 7 First Day – Student Perspective

My first day at Taroona High was memorable and the following reasons are why I enjoyed it.

This year I am in 7Blue, and my teacher is Mrs Burgess. She also takes us for English and Hass and on the first day we also had Drama and Maths. All my teachers are super nice.

One of the best things was also getting to meet some new people and making some great friends. The school is huge and amazing and I’m getting to know my way around.

Overall, I had a really positive first day and I can’t wait for the new few years at Taroona.

Elijah 7B

Sora App (Digital Library)

The school has an extensive range of eBooks, eAudiobooks, graphic novels, comics and magazines in its digital library. Go to the link below or download the Sora app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store .

For users who have been using the school’s digital library in previous years, we now need to borrow through Education Tasmania not Taroona High.

Further instructions can be accessed here .

Items automatically return after 21 days, and students can borrow up to 5 items (+ extra magazines).

A great opportunity for students to enjoy reading on their device (or phone but not when at school!) - anywhere, anytime!

School Immunisations

The Kingborough Council’s immunisation team will be providing the following vaccinations to the year 7 and year 10 Taroona High School students on the following dates.

Year 7 Students

Tuesday 28 March: Human papillomavirus (HPV) – one dose
Thursday 30 May: diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) dTpa – one dose

Year 10 Students

Tuesday 20 June: Meningococcal ACWY – one dose

The Kingborough Council has now collected all paperwork, if you are yet to return your child’s form, please drop this directly to the Council at 15 Channel Highway, Kingston.

School Health Nurse and First Aid Officer Information

Dear families,

As the School Health Nurse, my role here at Taroona High School is primarily in the health promotion space. Our wonderful First Aid Officers, Rosanne Thompson and Phil Samson, are the people who will help your child in the event they are unwell or injured. In the event of an emergency, I am always happy to assist.

I also help to ensure that the school is meeting their medication storage and administration requirements. In case you are not aware of how this affects you, please see the below points:

• If your child requires medication whilst at school, parents/carers must supply the medication.
• Any medications supplied to any DECYP school must be in date (not expired).
• Medications must be in their original containers or in a Webster-pak prepared by a pharmacist. For example, we cannot accept a sleeve of paracetamol as it must be in the original box.

In addition, parents must complete an Authorisation for Administration of Student Medication form if your child needs medication whilst at school. In accordance with department policy, schools cannot administer ANY medication without these forms. FORM A is for non-prescribed medications (i.e., antihistamines) and FORM B is for prescribed medications (i.e. Ritalin). Please ensure the correct form is completed. Forms can be found here .

Lastly, we kindly as that if your child requires a medical management/medical action plan in 2023 (i.e., for anaphylaxis) please ensure these are up to date and returned to the office as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about the above information please contact the school office, Roseanne Thompson rosanne.thompson@decyp.tas.gov.au or deirdre.cooper@decyp.tas.gov.au.

Kind regards,
Deirdre Cooper
School Health Nurse

NAPLAN 15 – 27 March

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and has been undertaken by students across Australia since 2008 (excepting 2020 when it was cancelled due to implications of COVID 19).

For more information, please click on the following link:

Maths and Science News

The Maths and Science Departments are gearing up for a great year. We were excited to welcome students back to school, eager to learn. Some reminders to ensure a smooth start to the year are to make sure students are prepared for class with books, pens/pencils, a charged laptop and for Maths especially, a scientific calculator. This equipment is essential for students to be successful in their learning.

Over the next couple of weeks information about Maths and Science competitions will be released. These competitions are a great way for students to stretch their thinking, enrich their learning and gain experience in examination conditions.

Finally, please save the date for our annual stem_next festival, which will take place on Thursday 23 November.

Welcome BBQ

On Tuesday afternoon THS hosted our annual Welcome BBQ for our new Year 7 families and for those families who are new to our school community.

Welcome BBQ (credit Karen Brown Photography)

Communication with Parents/Carers

Taroona High School has several ways for parents/carers to keep informed of what is happening around the school during the year. Please take a moment to read and subscribe to the following options.

MGM - TEXT Messaging System – 0418 190 013

MGM is a school communication and messaging system that enables Taroona High School to send SMS notifications to parents and carers advising of student absences.

Please text (only) 0418 190 013 to advise of the following:

• Absences
• Late Arrivals and
• Early Departures

We may also use MGM as an additional way to communicate with parents and carers about other school matters. Please note at times our messages may contain a link for you to view attachments.

Taroona High School Website

By visiting our website you can access Taroona High School information and subscribe to the newsletter, download the app and ‘Like’ our Facebook page.

Facebook

Go to the link below and “Like” us and you will start getting all the important Taroona High School information in your Facebook newsfeed.

Newsletter

You can also subscribe to receive Taroona High School’s Newsletter here:

SZapp - Schoolzine App

The app provides a convenient way to receive up-to-date information on the go:

An update for SZapp has been released to accommodate iPhones which have recently updated their software to iOS 13 and above.

Qkr! App

Using the Qkr! App instructions (click on the link below), download it to your phone to order and pay for lunches at the Canteen or make other payments.

School Calendar

Term Dates 2023

Community News