Newsletter No.9, Friday 29 September 2023

Message from the Principals

As we approach the end of another busy term, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible journey our students have embarked upon, the amazing learning opportunities, involvement in sport and extra curricula activities. We are so proud of the ways staff and students go above and beyond creating and participating in learning experiences inside and outside the classroom.

We have had many students go on overnight adventures starting with a Band Tour to Melbourne, two Duke of Edinburgh camps to Freycinet, two Big Picture camps, one to Ross and one to Little Swanport, and two Outdoor Education camps to Fortescue Bay. 

It's been a term of Pathway planning: hundreds of students have participated in work readiness programs, including Polish with Beacon, multiple industry talks and lots of work placements. Our Year 10s have completed their transition plans and enrolments setting them on their pathway for Year 11.  Our Year 9s have considered their pathway and selected English and Maths courses that align with students future plans. 

We celebrated Book Week and Science Week with many on and offsite activities and costumes. 

We had Mental Health Awareness Week where our fantastic Prefect Board arranged activities and guest speakers across the entire week for this very important message.

Year 10 students participated in RYDA Drivers Education at Claremont College.

Year 9 students participated in SASS sessions on positive relationships.

Year 8 students participated in the Human Library focusing on inclusion.

We participated in multiple competitions covering music, maths, science and engineering, writing, chess, art, languages, sport and Tournament of Minds.

Our VIPs continue to be a fantastic way to reward students who consistently embody our school values. Through VIPs many classes and individuals have been rewarded for the way they demonstrate our school values. 

We finished the term with our amazing production of ‘We Will Rock You’. Our cast and crew have worked all year on this and the hard work and dedication has certainly paid off. Well done to all involved in this amazing production.

Representing our school and yourselves at these events show courage, aspiration, growth and respect.  It is also really important to recognise the teachers and support staff, including our admin team who help make these opportunities happen.  You all make our school an incredible place to learn. 

Next term is already shaping up to be just as fun and exciting as this one. We already have four camps planned and many additional programs and excursions. Year 10s will be spending a week at Elizabeth College, Year 8 and 9 will attend leadership development days, there will be beach and activity days, a Swimming Carnival, Celebration Dinner, Arts Showcase and Presentation Evening, where many students will be receiving awards for their hard work and achievements this year. 

Thank you to parents and families for supporting your young people. Please continue to encourage your young person's commitment to their studies and involvement in school activities. We appreciate your partnership and involvement in your young person's education. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

We wish you all a wonderful and restful holiday.

Britany Roestenburg - Lead Principal

Holly Stewart - Principal - Senior School

Andrew Hughes - Principal - Middle School

From your School Association

The Future Of Our School – Have Your Say

The community consultation about the Hobart City Partner Schools preferred model is nearly finished. If you have not already had your say there’s still time. It’s really important that students and families of Hobart City High School have a voice in this consultation. One easy way to do that is to sign up and do the survey on the website. There are other ways to contribute on that site too, through the forum and sharing stories.

The options being considered are:

• HCHS and EC remain separate entities but continue in partnership as they currently do.
• HCHS and EC combine to be one school on three campuses.
• Any other options that come through the consultation.

The School Association’s vision is for a vibrant, diverse and inclusive school community that works with the school to enable our young people to flourish. So we want to know - what sort of school model will best help our young people to flourish? Not just current students but the next generation too. Please take a few minutes to sign up and do the survey now.

Next Meeting

Our second last meeting for the year is Tuesday 7 November, 5:30 – 7:00 pm at the Ogilvie Campus. You are welcome to come along or join us online via Teams – email hchs.association@decyp.tas.gov.au to get the link.

Melinda Maddock - Chair

Attendance

Please note the following:

• A full school day is from 9:00 am (present in class) to 3:00 pm. To enable your student to be in class on time we have staff here to provide duty of care from 8:30 am, which allows enough time to prepare for being present on time to the first class, which is Home Group. Please note that Home Group is part of the scheduled school day and it is important that all students are present. Teachers are on duty at the end of the day until 3:30 pm.
• Part days missed, including Home Group, all add up to important school being missed. For example if your student misses Home Group each day for 4 weeks, that is the same time as a full school day.
• As a result, we ask that where possible all appointments are scheduled outside school hours.
  
• If your student is not able to attend at any time, please contact the school via email hobart.city.high@decyp.tas.gov.au, through SZapp (Schoolzine app) or respond to any text messages received around non-attendance via return text on 0417 968 541 (free text service).
• Please feel free to contact the school if there are concerns around your student’s attendance so we are able to assist however we can to ensure that they are at school.

Australian Council For Educational Leaders (ACEL) Awards

The Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) TAS annual branch awards ceremony was held on Thursday 7 September 2023.

Congratulations to Tom McGee who received an ACEL TAS Early Career Teacher Leadership Award. This award recognises teachers who are in the early stages of their career, generally the first five years, for their excellent contribution to education in Tasmania.

Congratulations also to Deb Day, our recently retired inaugural Lead Pincipal of Hobart City High School, who was presented with an ACEL TAS Fellowship presented to those who have made outstanding educational leadership contributions to ACEL and/or whose work has influenced educational practice at a state and/or national level.

Thank you Tom and Deb for your significant contribution to our school community.

Outdoor Education Camps

Two Outdoor Education classes headed off on their camps to Fortescue Bay in the Tasman National Park last week. The first camp started with some sightseeing around the Eaglehawk Neck area, followed by setting up camp. The afternoon was spent playing beach volleyball and sitting by a fire to finish off the evening. They completed the challenging walk to Cape Hauy. All class members made it there and back conquering the 2,500+ stairs! They finished the day off with an ice cream at Port Arthur and some sightseeing at Remarkable Cave. 

Our second camp for the term woke to the sound of hail on their tent tops, which led to a slow start to the day. A decision was made to change the walk to Crescent Bay and Mount Brown due to the showery weather. After a 20 minute wait on the bus, the walk started to the clouds parting and sun coming through. The team were rewarded with stunning views of the Tasman Peninsula coastline. The day finished with some volleyball and soccer games with Rose Bay High School.

Warwick Lovell  -  Outdoor Education Teacher

Chess is Thriving at HCHS

Hobart City Inter-High School Chess Tournament

We are proud to have hosted this terms Hobart City Inter-High Chess Tournament on Thursday 21 September with 56 participants from Hobart City High School, The Friends School, Taroona High School, Guilford Young College, MacKillop Catholic College, Dominic College, and Hobart College.

Throughout the day students demonstrated great sportsmanship, resilience, problem solving, creativity and courage. One of our players started the day feeling very nervous and unsure if he should even be playing. This student demonstrated great resilience and courage, focused on having a go and on having some fun, stepped out of his comfort zone and ended the day saying, “That was the best day of my life.”

Congratulations to our Chess Team on achieving first place!

Our team consisted of the following students:

Year 10s: Nicholas R, Khan N, Jackson B

Year 8s: Samuel B, Philos S, Jean-Daiki B, Shanawer Y, Gabriel L, Arthur L, Coop M, Vaibhav P, Raphael L, Ayden R, Sithika P

Year 7s: Deepansu D, Oscar E, Eric F, Damsara S, Max C, and Caleb C

We came equal first with MacKillop College with 20 points each being the total for both teams’ top four scores. Our top four scorers were as follows:

1st Top Scorer: Samuel = 5.5/7 
2nd Top Scorer: Vaibhav = 5/7
3rd Top Scorer: Khanh = 5/7
4th Top Scorer: Eric = 4.5/7 (Eric was ranked 4^th with the same score as Jackson B having played slightly higher ranked players)

However, using the Team-Tiebreak method, the 5th Top Scorer is considered. In this case, Jackson B's score of 4.5/7 was higher than MacKillop College's 5th Top Scorer on 4/7. Therefore, Jackson B's great performance helped achieve our first place in the tournament. 

Whilst we are proud of each players efforts, it is worth noting the following:

• Khanh: biggest rating improvement with an increase of 105 and a performance rating of 1135, 3rd highest in the tournament. 
• Nicholas: biggest ranking jump, jumping 36 places up from where he was seeded. 
• Vaibhav: biggest upset of the tournament beating the Under 14's Tasmanian Junior Chess Champion.
• Philos: longest, toughest, and grittiest chess games played in the tournament. 

Thank You

A huge thank you on behalf of the Chess Team to Gail Reeves, the Ogilvie Campus School Business Manager for oversight of the organisation and to Ann and Nikki who provided visiting staff with delicious morning tea. To our incredible Education Facility Attendants for preparing the venue, to Ms Anderson and Ms Smith and their students who kindly moved desks from their classrooms to the hall and to Ms Plapp, Ms Jones, Ms Fletcher and Mr Davies for willingly relocating to other classrooms. Thank you to our IT Support team for organising guest WiFi access and to Ben Price, our committed volunteer coach from Black Square Chess.

2023 Tasmanian Junior Chess Championships

Congratulations to Khanh who clinched the 2023 Under 16s Tasmanian Junior Chess Championship held on 23 – 24 September. Jackson, Nicholas, Oscar, Eric, and Deepansu also participated in the Tasmanian Junior Chess Championship with commendable results. 

State Inter-School Finals

We qualified eight players for the State Inter-School Finals to be held on Monday 30 October at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Invention of a new variant of chess called "Chaos Chess"

Year 10s, Franklin and Jackson together with Khanh invented a new variant of chess which they’ve called "Chaos Chess" which is what it looks like when you first see it being played. However, when you look closely and watch carefully, the apparent chaos is clearly underpinned by elegant mathematics, simplicity, and beauty. The image on Franklin's hand is a schematic of the required geometry to play this chess variant. 

"Chaos Chess" requires intense focus, creative problem-solving, and frugal innovation to play, and it's heaps of fun! Already St Virgil's has adopted it into their chess program, and it has been played extensively at the Hobart Chess Club, as well as two inter-school chess tournaments. One of the images shows Khanh in action against a player from Taroona HS, MacKillop College, and GYC all at the same time.

Ben Price from Black Square Chess describes this creation as sheer brilliance. Here is a video clip of when it first came into full existence in the NTC Library. We certainly have some very talented students! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzcnzZXblcg

Chess Club

We encourage any students who would like to play chess and try out “Chaos Chess” to come along to our lunch time Chess Club and join in the fun. All skill levels are welcome! We are lucky to have Ben Price from Black Square Chess as our volunteer chess coach. Chat to Mrs Maree if you would like to know more about joining Chess Club.

Year 9 -10 students: Monday at lunch time in the NTC Library

Year 7 – 8 students: Tuesday at lunch time in the OC Library.

Mandy Maree - Assistant Principal - Instructional Coach 

Big Picture News

Term 3 has been an eventful time for the students following the Big Picture design in learning.

There have been many out of school learning opportunities with interviews, shadow days, internships and even two camps. There have been interesting excursions to IMAS Taroona facility with presentations from scientists and PHD students sharing their studies. There was an Arts Tour visiting UTAS School of Creative Arts, the Beaker Street Festival TMAG exhibition and the Hadley’s Art Prize Exhibition. A small group of students were invited to tour the CSIRO research vessel R.V. Investigator after school one afternoon.

Back at school students had the option to enrol in a First Aid Course through Statewide Training – seven students (and one Teacher Advisor), completed the qualification “Provide First Aid”.

Year 12 students Piper L and Matilda H organised their own "Wear it Purple Day"  event which was well supported by staff and students alike. Below is Matilda's beautiful origianl artwork used to promote the event.

Back out of the classroom our students engage in a multitude of learning communities, for example Year 11 student Alex E and Year 13 student Emmerson B are both in the UTAS Wind Ensembele and performed in two concerts at the Hedberg during September.

Year 11 student Samm C, has been helping to choreograph the schools musical "We Will Rock You" which has been performed at the Playhouse Theatre this week. Samm is also a regular contributor with the Silver Words Poetry group, winning Director's Choice and taking part in the Tasmanian finals of the Australian Poetry Slam competition 2023.  Year 10 student, Sophie T, was also a finalist placing second at the Hobart finals.  Both students travelled to Launceston where Samm was awarded third place.

Some of our students take internships to a new level with two more students following their passion interstate to deeply engage with their learning. Patrick O, Year 10, was fortunate enough to travel to Victoria spending a block of time at Ballarat Wildlife Park. Whilst Year 11 student Aleira C, travelled to Canberra to visit two Big Picture Schools (Canberra College and Melrose High School), interviewing their students for her senior project. Aleira wrapped up her trip with a guided ‘access all areas’ tour of Parliament House due to her passion for politics.

Meanwhile, many of our Year 10 students have been busy with a range of out of school learning opportunities closer to home. Oscar and Taylor have been at Edge Radio learning more about a community radio station and setting up a regular Podcast. Harry and Oscar have been at Terros working with a mechanic to convert a bike into an electric bike. We are grateful to Sustainable Living Tasmania for funding this project. Violet applied for and won a rare one week placement at TMAG. Abbey and Year 11 student Dylan, are at Drysdale learning how to make bread and other bakery products. Sienna is at Temple on Murray exploring opportunities in the hairdressing industry and Hamish has been helping out at the ADF museum. Oscar and Charlie have been travelling with Hydro, exploring engineering pathways. Harry has been at Toyota for a week learning more about automotive pathways. James is at Trendy Cut Butchers and Ella, who is looking at a pathway into teaching, has been regularly supporting young people with reading at Austins Ferry Primary School. We also have Charlie looking forward to a placement with CSIRO later this year; Violet going to the Nipaluna Nursery and Sienna and Jay joining Pennicott Wilderness Tours for a week.

Big Picture Year 9 Camp

Year 9 students planned, organised and ran their own three-day camp this month!

Amber M, Sophie S, Rosabella E and Declan M dreamed up the idea whilst creating a podcast last term. They didn't have the opportunity to go on camp in 2020 because of Covid, so why not make one happen this year? Their teacher advisor Daniel was supportive, and so began a ten-week journey of class discussions, budgets, risk assessments, itineraries, reviews, rewrites and more rewrites, led by these students and their peers. By early Term 3, the camp had been approved and 9L were ready to roll. Thank you to Andrew Hughes for allowing Shanae Stevenson to come along for the adventure.

The camp was held at Gumleaves, Little Swanport. Highlights included flying fox rides, marshmallows around the campfire, bushwalks, feeding the animals, and playing cards with friends. Guided by our parent helper Erica, students cooked every meal, cleaned up after every meal, ran games and helped each other calm down after lights out.

In Big Picture we say that everyone is a leader. The Year 9s have shown how true this is. Well done legends.

Liz McDermott - Year 11/12 Teacher Advisor - Hobart Big Picture

Ross Trip - Term 3, 2023

On the 15 August 2023 a group of seventeen students and three Big Picture teacher advisors took a bus to Ross to plant trees and help the Midlands dry environment. The trees planted are to be the beginning of a wildlife corridor to connect the east and west midlands to assist the genetic viability of the native animals isolated in these areas.

At 8:30 am we met up at the Hobart Big Picture School to pack up the trailer and bus to head ‘up north’. On the way up we picked up two students from Brighton and Bagdad, once we had collected everyone we made our way to Ross. Chatting, playing music and singing, everyone was having a great time. We stopped in the centre of Ross to go to the bakery and get some food, a hot drink and use the toilet. We had half an hour so we went to the park and hung out playing and chatting.

After our break, we drove about 10 minutes up the road to The Species Hotel. A design by UTAS architecture students that some Hobart Big Picture students helped to build last year. The Species Hotel is a small area with around seven or eight wooden statues designed to suit each animals needs in the surrounding area. At The Species Hotel we met an aboriginal man, his name is Leroy. Leroy and his friend ran an interactive task with our group. We sat around a blue mat which represented water and a map of Australia. They taught us about the first settlers in Australia and how it affected aboriginals and the surrounding lives, we had toy animals and trees etc., to put on the map as a visual representation.

After we had finished we drove about 15 minutes to Beaufront which is a massive property owned by the von Bibra’s. We stayed in the shearers quarters.

Once we had met Annabelle, Cameron assigned us all rooms; two people to one room. After we were all settled in and unpacked a little, we had about 30 minutes to explore and have ‘chill out time’. They had a beautiful old dog named Lux who loved pats and cuddles.

We then all piled into the bus and drove fifteen minutes up a long dirt road with heaps of gates to the von Bibra’s massive property which has acres of dry paddocks. We walked into a big part of the property where we met some other helpers. We were there to plant hundreds of trees to improve the environment and make the Midlands a bit livelier and happier.

Leroy did a dance for us. Then we got into groups and grabbed a shovel, hand trowel, bucket of plants, wooden stakes, bamboo sticks, tree guards, mallet and gloves and got planting. We were there for probably two hours planting. The sun started to set so we packed everything up and headed back to the house.

When we got back some of us changed into warmer clothes as the sun was setting and the night air was freezing cold. We hung out and had some free time, some started a fire and others explored, playing with frogs and getting our hands dirty. When it was time, we started on dinner; Leroy was cooking wallaby on the fire. Therese made tomato pasta, there were roast veggies and garlic bread, finally snags in bread.

After dinner we sat around the campfire and settled in. Leroy got up and taught us the emu dance. The females and males had different roles, we (the girls), picked worms from the ground and wiped ourselves off after eating them. After we learned the dance we all did it with the song of the clapping sticks that Leroy played on. We then played a game of spotlight, three rounds, which was heaps of fun. After we all hung out, we went to bed.

The next morning we had a wakeup call around 7:00 am, which was absolutely awful because we were told we could sleep until 9:00 am. After the first wake up call and everyone ignoring it, there was a breakfast wake up call which got a couple of people up. Cameron had cooked everyone eggs and bacon which we had in a sandwich, along with some orange slices.

We left around 9:00 am. Once we got to the paddocks we geared up once again and found the spots where to plant which were marked with pink spray paint.

We then spent the next two hours planting. The sun was beaming and there was still no wind, it was beautiful weather, both days.

We had a break for half an hour, sat in the shade and ate oranges and some snacky things. After we had finished we packed up and left, heading back to Beaufront. We had lunch, which was leftovers from dinner. We also cooked some sausages. We cleaned our rooms, packed our stuff, sweeped, vacuumed and made the bed sheets nice like we found it. Myself and a few other of the girls volunteered to clean up the kitchen and dining area.

We had a system, one washed, one dried, one put away. I wiped the tables down and swept the floor. Others stacked wood and packed the bus ready to leave. After we had finished cleaning and making sure everything was schmick clean we all gathered around to say one last thank you to Annabelle who was the owner of the land and for letting us stay at Beaufront. We thanked Leroy for teaching us about the aboriginal past and for helping us with all the planting.

After we parted we began the journey home which was very, very quiet compared to the way up. No music or yelling, just some whispers and naps. 

Overall, everyone had a blast and we did a good thing for the community and the environment, we had planted around 800 trees.

Charlee-Anna K - Year 10L - Hobart Big Picture Academy

Pathways and Careers Centre - Term 3 Wrap!

It has been a super busy term in the Pathways and Careers Centre at our New Town Campus. Our students have had access to a range of guest speakers and services from various industries to help them develop knowledge about the world of work. During the term, students have welcomed representatives from:

• The Australian Defence Force (ADF) Recruiting
• Lady Gowrie - Early Childhood Education and Care Sector
• Civil Contractors Federation
• Master Builders Tasmania
• Fairbrother
• Department of State Growth
• Federal Group
• Vantage Group
• Beacon Foundation

We have been very fortunate to hear from a panel of professionals across various industries. Some students have gained a nationally accredited White Card and have been involved in workshops to develop transferrable skills and leadership qualities through our Polish Programs.

Over 200 aspiring students attended these events throughout Term 3. Year 10 student Brody N particularly enjoyed hearing from Civil Contractors Federation, “I really enjoyed hearing from an industry I previously only knew a little bit about. They were very informative, engaging and expanded my knowledge about the diverse range of occupations within the industry”.

We would like to thank all our industry representatives and guests for taking the time out of their busy schedules to support and inform our students. In particular, a huge thanks to the Beacon Foundation for their engagement through industry networking and organisation of events.

We are gearing up for a huge Term 4!

Pathways and Careers Team

Student Feedback for the Redeveloment

Our student leaders have been involved in feedback sessions with architects around the redevelopment of the New Town Campus. Staff and family members have also been invited to participate in sessions and these will continue next term. It’s all very exciting to learn more about the development plans and to see virtual models of how things could look.

Mental Health Awarness Week

We recently held events for Mental Health Awareness Week. Year 10 students and staff kicked off the week with a Q & A with Speak Up Stay Chatty founder Mitch McPherson at the New Town Campus. Mitch has a strong focus on kindness, normalising mental health conversations, looking out for each other, doing more of what you are good at and being patient with finding purpose.

A BBQ was held on the New Town Campus. The Student Leadership Team hosted a “Wear it Purple/Rainbow Colours”event. Staff and students were encouraged to dress in purple or rainbow colours and donate a gold coin towards Mental Health Week initiatives.

Year 8 students made cupcakes and participated in other activities to raise awareness around positive mental health and wellbeing.

Important Dates

16 October - Term 4 Commences

19 October - Year 7/8 Enrichment - Soccer Clinics - 12:05pm - 1:15pm - NTC

20 October - Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

24 October - Raise Mentorship Graduation Event (with Rob Valentine) 9:00 - 10:00am - OC

27 October - Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

30 October - Swimming Carnival (Hobart Aquatic Centre)

                            Years 7/8 - 11:45am - 3:00pm

                             Years 9/10 - 9:15am - 12:30pm

1 November - Children and Family Forum - 9:00am - 12.00pm - OC

2 November - Arts Showcase - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - NTC

3 November- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

6 - 8 November - Outdoor Education Camp - Freycinet National Park

8 November - Year 7/8 Schools Beach Volleyball Cup - 9:00am - 3:00pm - Kingston Beach

9 November - Year 9/10 Schools Beach Volleyball Cup - 9:00am - 3:00pm - Kingston Beach

9 November - Year 7 Immunisations - 9:00 - 10:30am - OC

9 November - Year 10 Immunisations - 11:20am - 1:00pm - NTC

10 November- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

16 November - Inter-High Swimming - Aquatic Centre

17 November - Big Picture Mentor's Breakfast - 7:30 - 9:00am - OC

17 November- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

22 - 24 November - Big Picture Interviews for Students - UTAS

24 November- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

25 - 26 November - Southern Tasmanian High Shcool Basketball Championships - Kingborough Sports Centre

29 November - Year 7 2024 Orientation Day - OC

29 November - 1 December - Outdoor Education Camp (Freycinet National Park)

1 December- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

4 - 8 December - Year 1- ConnECT - NTC

8 December- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

13 December - Presentation Evening - NTC

15 December- Futsal Roster - 4:30 - 8:30pm (various venues)

18 December - Year 10 Celebration Dinner Wrest Point Casino

21 December - Last Day for Students 

22 December - Last Day for Staff

Building Better Mental Health for our Young Ones

Staying Safe on our School Services

What's on at Youth ARC

Youth ARC school holiday hours -  Tuesday -  Friday, 1:00 - 5:00 pm

Checkout below for our free upcoming School Holiday workshops and activities