New Town High School

ISSUE: No. 15 Friday 25 September 2015

2015 CALENDAR TERM 4

First Day of Term

Monday 12 October

Newsletter

Wednesday 21 October

Hobart Show Day

Thursday 22 October

Student Free Day

Friday 23 October

G10 Work Experience

Monday 26 October

Friday 30 October

G7 Immunisation

Thursday 29 October

Athletics Carnival

Thursday 5 November &

Friday 6 November

Newsletter

Friday 6 November

Inter-High Athletics

Tuesday 10 November

Arts Night

Wednesday 12 November

Elizabeth College Confirmation

of G10 Enrolments

G7 2016 Orientation Day

Friday 20 September

G10 Testing Week

Monday 23 November to Friday 27

November

Celebration Dinner

Wednesday 2 December

Newsletter

Friday 4 Newsletter

Presentation Night

Thursday 10 December

FROM THE PRINCIPAL I can hardly believe that this will be the last newsletter for this term. As my

first term as Principal at New Town High draws to a close I would like to

thank the whole school community for their support and for making me

feel very welcomed as part of our great school community.

We are certainly ending the term on a high note. We have as a school had

some great news regarding some of our student achievements. On

Wednesday our AFL team won the Tassie Hawks Cup in Launceston. This

is an excellent achievement and is reflective of the hard work and dedica-

tion shown by our boys and the teaching team that has supported and guid-

ed them. We have also had other sporting teams in action including our

volleyball and soccer teams. This comes on the back of the great writing

achievement of Peter Burt in Grade 10 who was selected as a finalist in the

Commission for Children’s Writing Awards last week. Our students have

also had the opportunity to engage with the Bell Shakespeare Company to

bring their studies of Shakespeare alive and have had the opportunity to

work with world class chefs as part of their studies in Home Economics. It

is great that as a school we have students achieving such great outcomes in

a wide variety of fields.

At present a group of twelve boys and two staff are currently climbing Mt

Kilimanjaro as part of the World Challenge trip. We believe that New

Town High is the first school in our state to attempt such a challenge and I

am sure that the experiences that the boys will encounter will shape their

thinking and lives well into the future. The group has been making regular

posts on our Facebook page and I would encourage you to check in on the

page for updates.

On Monday19 October New Town High will be hosting an event organized

by a Fairer World. The event will feature the Hobart Human Library. Hu-

man libraries are used around the world to challenge prejudices and build

empathy between diverse people. Given the issues being experienced in

Europe at present the timing of the event is very fortuitous. Having been

involved with the library in the past I would certainly encourage you to take

the time to hear the stories of the human books. More information about

the library and information on how to book a space can be found in a flyer

included with the newsletter.

I would like to wish all of our students and their fami-

lies a safe and enjoyable break and I look forward to

welcoming the boys back for an exciting and reward-

ing Term 4.

Jason Szczerbanik

GRADE 8 NEWS This past fortnight has seen the Grade 8’s very busy

with The Great Cycle Challenge. Our Grade took on

this fantastic challenge last year, and due to its re-

sounding success, it has become an integral part of

our Grade’s civic contribution. The Great Cycle

Challenge is run to help find a cure for childhood can-

cer, and to ensure healthier kids have brighter fu-

tures. The past week saw students from all grades,

teachers, and friends of the school community partici-

pate, and help us raise over $500.

We have two students representing Tasmania in

sporting events over the school holidays. Mason

Attfield, 8J1, will be representing Tasmania in soc-

cer at the National Tournament being held in Coffs

Harbour and Kulai Sculthorpe, 8H1, will also be

representing our state at the Futsal Tournament in

Brisbane. We wish these boys all the very best with

their respective matches.

Four boys played on the Senior soccer team

against Hutchins on Wednesday. Liam Toselli,

8D2, Henry Fox, 8D2, Kulai Sculthorpe, 8H1

and Mason Attfield, 8J1, did the grade proud

against much larger and older opposition. The

team played gallantly but went down 6-2 to a more

experienced and tight knit team.

Thomas Blackwell, 8D2 and Samuel Major,

8D2, were a part of the Tassie Hawks Cup win-

ning team. The boys travelled to Launceston on

Wednesday for the final series against two other

school. Well done team!

Mr Tabart will be taking long service leave during

term 4. We would like to wish him a very safe and

enjoyable holiday in Europe. We would like to

welcome (again) Mr Peter Edwards who will be

taking care of 8D2 for Term 4.

A Last Word… The Grade 8’s would like to thank

all of their teachers, the Grade Team, the Admin-

istration and Ancillary staff for their care and work

throughout a long winter’s Term. Wishing you all

a very safe and restful break and we are looking

forward to seeing everyone back refreshed for the

final term.

Shaun Newbold & Sara Mulholland

Grade 8 Supervisor & Grade 8 Co-ordinator

GRADE 9 NEWS We would like to thank all teaching staff, ancillary

and office staff, parents and students for their hard

work and efforts during the long winter term.

At the time of writing this newsletter, the Peer

Leadership Group for 2016 will be announced.

Congratulations to all boys nominated but thanks

also, to all boys who attended the programme and

conducted themselves in an exemplary manner.

Personally, this was certainly the highlight of the

term. New Town High School has such a depth of

talented students and teachers – a combination Mason Attfield Kulai Sculthorpe

that resulted in an extremely successful and enjoyable

two days.

Congratulations to Mr Brent Williams and the 9/10 Foot-

ball team who competed in the AFL State playoffs in

Launceston on Wednesday. Our team was successful in

the Grand Final defeating Kings Meadows High by 17

points. Grade 9 team members were: Bailey Nelson,

9E2, Alexander Speakman-Smith, 9J2, Sam Berry,

9E2, Matteo Paolini, 9J1, Josh Jordan, 9H2, Caleb

Triffett, 9E1, Lochie Bromfield, 9H1, Joshua

Cooper, 9E1, Dylan Cooper, 9E1 and Bailey Walk-

er, 9H2.

We would also like to acknowledge the Grade 9 mem-

bers of the school soccer team that unfortunately were

defeated by Hutchins on Wednesday – all boys played

extremely well over Hutchins on Wednesday: Brandon

Fraser, 9D2, Jack Rose, 9E1, Alexander Toselli,

9D2, Ruben Carlsson, 9D2, Jack Stanwix, 9D2, and

Liam Kalbfell, 9E1.

Congratulations to Liam

Rolle, 9D1, who won a

bronze medal in the 1500 me-

tre event at the recent State

Short Course Championships.

This was Liam’s first race in

this event – a fine effort!

Welcome to our new student,

Murtesa Mohamed Musa,

who joins us from Ethiopia and

will be in 9D2.

Finally, we wish everyone in

the New Town High School

community a safe and happy

holiday and look forward to seeing you in Term 4.

Leone Lamont & Andrew Harrison

Grade 9 Supervisors

GRADE 10 NEWS We’re pleased to share some of the impressive achieve-

ments of our grade. Jack Shaw, 10E1, took part in the

Tasmania Writer’s Festival last week as a participant in a

panel on Saturday 12 September, entitled ‘Tasmania: A

Land of Dregs, Bogans and Third Generation Morons’.

The panel was chaired by Rachel Edwards and Jack was

joined by two other college students on the panel. They

shared some of their work with the audience and held a

discussion on how they want this state to be, how they

plan to exist within it and who will read their work in the

future. Jack was knowledgeable, mature, honest,

thoughtful and articulate in his answers – representing

himself and our school incredibly well.

Another great achievement was won by Peter

Burt, 10J2, who was a finalist in the Commission

for Children’s Young Creative Writers Awards last

week. Peter was one of 3 finalists for his age group

and received the runner-up prize. This is an out-

standing effort, Peter!

Well done to Callum Woodward, 10H1, who

travelled to the Sunshine Coast to compete in the

Outrigger Canoeing National Titles this week!

The New Town High versus Hutchins competitions

are hotting up again, with the Basketball team taking

out the game a few weeks ago fronted by Grade 10

students: Chris Ransom, 10H2, Sam Fros,

10H2, Dorian Williams, 10D2, James Kemp,

10J1, Izaac Sealy, 10D2 and Blair Woolley,

10E1. The Senior Soccer team, with Alex Wal-

den-Bauer, 10H2, Kurt Maughan, 10H1, Sam

Johnstone, 10H1, Liam Ostapowicz, 10H1 an

William Richardson, 10J1 from Grade 10 played

on Wednesday but Hutchins winning 6-2.

Liam Rolle

Jack Shaw at the

Tasmania Writer’s Festival

Peter Burt at the Commission for Children’s Young Creative

Callum Woodward

Congratulations to the 9/10 Football team for winning

the Southern Schools Football final last week. The boys

went to Launceston to play in the AFL State Finals on

Wednesday. Well done to the Grade 10 students on

the team: Luke Arbuckle, 10E1, Chris Ransom,

10H2, Damien Denny, 10H2, Joshua Farrow,

10D2, Sam Fros, 10H2, Sebastian Godfrey, 10J1,

Jesse Gardner, 10H1, Connor Muskett, 10J1,

William Muskett, 10H1, Jack Nicolle, 10E1, Ko-

bey Phillips, 10H1, Aaron Brennan, 10D1, Jack-

son Simpson, 10E1, Tyler Willmott, 10J1, Lachie

Plummer, 10E1, Callum Woodward, 10H1 and

Brodie Rowbottom, 10J2.

Ms Hayley Noonan & Mr Ashley Jubb

Grade 10 Supervisors

CORNELIAN BAY EXCURSION

On Wednesday 9 September, 8E1 and 8D2 went on a

geography excursion to Cornelian Bay, following 8H1

and 8J1 who had gone the week before. We left first

thing in the morning and took a lovely walk down to

the bay, which took around 20 minutes. Once we

New Town High 9/10 Football Team

New Town High Basketball Team

arrived at Cornelian Bay we were handed instruc-

tions on how we would evaluate the different man-

agement practices used in the area. We headed off

in pairs to rate these management practices and

make recommendations on how to improve them.

After researching the different aspects of the bay,

we stopped for recess, many boys choosing to en-

joy the views down the Derwent River as they ate.

The second half of our day was spent walking the

gravel track past the boat sheds, towards the Tas-

man Bridge.

There were some obvious differences in the way

two sections of the bay were managed and most

students had a long list of suggestions for improve-

ments in this area. Our final mission was to walk

back to school for the beginning of period 4.

Thanks to Mr Friend, Mr Bennett, Ms Tighe and Ms

Mulholland for such an enjoyable morning!

By Nathan Forster & Aayush Bagga

ENGLISH NEWS ICAS ENGLISH COMPETITION

Earlier this term a small but committed group of students

sat the University of New South Wales ICAS English Com-

petition. The papers were very demanding and involved

concentrated reading and interpreting of a range of chal-

lenging text types. All students are commended on their

performances and their willingness to enrol in the compe-

tition.

In Grade 7 Sebastian Cock, 7E1, Aden Roberts, 7E1

and Harrison Tunks, 7E1 fared extremely well with

what amounts to a speed reading for meaning test with

fifty-five multiple choice responses to a number of chal-

lenging texts to be decided in fifty-five minutes. Harrison

Tunks achieved a fine Distinction Award placing him in the

top two per cent of all participants while Sebastian

achieved a Merit award. All three students proved strong-

est in the area of vocabulary with near perfect scores.

In Grade 8 Felix Fischer, 8H1, Ryan Marshall, 8D2,

James McKee, 8J2, Finlay Semmens, 8J2 and Kelly

Stone, 8J2, achieved outstanding results with Felix and

Kelly earning certificates of Distinction while James and

Finlay earned certificates of Credit.

For the senior school Xavier Gandy, 9D2, flew the flag

and earned a certificate of Merit.

Our band of brothers ensured that New Town High

School scored well above the average in each of the skill

areas – reading (literary & factual), textual devices, syntax

and vocabulary. Well done, gentlemen!

Grace Guerzoni

TRIANGLE BOYS TEACH TIGERS

HOW TO MANGLE On Wednesday 16 September the New Town High Senior

Football Team made mincemeat of the Kingston High sen-

ior team defeating them by 85 points. Led by a strong

Brodie Rowbottom, 10J2, and a bag of 6 goals from

star on-baller Kobey Phillips, 10H1, the team really put

an exclamation point on the contest. The game was never

in doubt after the opening goal: a set shot from Christo-

pher Ransom, 10H2, inside the first 30 seconds.

New Town looked like they might have a contest on their

hands for half of the first quarter, with Kingston being fe-

rocious at both the player and the ball. But New Town

just oozed class all around the ground, from their full back

line with William Muskett, 10H1, and Connor

Muskett, 10J2, to Jack Nicolle, 10E1, in the ruck and

Aaron Brennan, 10D1, at his feet to their full forward

line of Ransom and Caleb Triffett, 9E1.

Kingston’s effort dropped off after the first five

minutes and this lead to New Town running over the

top of them and keeping the continual pressure on

the man and the scoreboard. Having only kicked one

goal to half time, Kingston came out and again gave a

good 5 minute effort to try and break the boys in gold

and navy, but to no avail. New Town piled on the

goals to eventually run out winners, 110-25.

When asked what he thought of his team’s effort on

the day, Coach Mr Williams said “I thought our boys

were very professional today in the way they carried them-

selves and they had a very team first approach.”

Best Players on the day were: Kobey Phillips, Brodie

Rowbottom, Connor Muskett, Chris Ransom and Jack

Nicolle.

Chris Ransom

FOOD STUDIES NEWS

At our last Junior and Senior Assemblies we congrat-

ulated the recent Chefs of the Month. In the Junior

Assembly congratulations went to Ari Trochatos,

7D2, for his excellent work this term. The Senior

Chef of the Month was awarded to Peter Burt, 10

J2. Both students exemplify the qualities of excel-

lence and commitment to their practical and theoreti-

cal work. Well done to you both!

This week Grade 7 students from 7D1, 7D2, 7E1, 7E2

had an exciting opportunity to meet and work with

Scott McMurray and Freya from Smoult Restaurant.

Scott generously gave his time and provided the re-

sources for a practical cookery session on Tuesday 22

September. Four Grade 10 students assisted on the

day with preparation and during the class; they were

Braeden Oakley, 10E1, Jack Gray, 10H2, Peter

Burt, 10J2 and Brandon Harpham, 10H2 and also

ably assisted by Gus McMurray, 8H1.

Ari Trochatos

Junior Chef of the Month

Peter Burt

Senior Chef of the Month

Mr Tim Cox took some photos of the event and it was

clear that all the boys enjoyed the experience and feel

they are able to “push out” their pizza dough and apply

a range of toppings. Scott and Freya talked about the

ingredients and noted how in the restaurant you can

select a “white base for the pizza or a red base! By this

they mean a cheese base of Taleggio and hand pulled

mozzarella, or the fresh tomato sauce base. The boys

had all sorts of ingredients to choose = broadening their

experiences of the ham cheese and pineapple version.

Mrs Weitnauer and Nikki Cooper (Kitchen assistant)

made a mango smoothie as a chaser to finish off the

taste extravaganza! Thank you to the teachers who

allowed the boys out of their regular classes to attend

this session.

The Grade 8 students have continued working on their

design challenges and are creating some wonderful yeast

recipes this week. A BBQ pizza is on the menu for this

week. It is a three step process where the boys are

making the base, a tangy BBQ sauce and then the top-

pings – a real treat.

In the senior grades, skills in food modelling are being

practised. The resultant mini carrot muffins with

moulded spring baby carrots look fabulous. Well done

to the boys with their first efforts at food moulding.

Please take the time to chat to your boys about

their food experiences at New Town High school

and encourage them to practice recipes over the

holidays.

Happy reading and happy cooking for the school

holidays!

Karen Weitnauer

HOD - Food Studies

ARTS NEWS We arrive at the end of this term with positive gains

made by many students in the Arts based Learning

Areas. Students have enjoyed successes in the

Young Archies portraiture exhibition, Music and

Theatre; but the real successes are those shared by

every student who tries his very best in all subject

areas.

Arts require commitment and perseverance, intense

focus and a belief in the individuals own worth for

success to be realised. In a world which is some-

times defined by technology and a society connect-

ed to remote social networks via personal devices

the need for excellence becomes paramount, for if

we cease to develop new ways of seeing and repre-

senting our realities then we sadly become lazy sec-

ond hand users of other people’s ideas, for example,

new technologies are powerful tools that extend

our capabilities, but they are not in themselves,

without disciplined and focussed use, magical devic-

es for increasing student educational potential.

Creative and critical thinking is an essential part of

the Arts, it is what Artists and Performers engage in

everyday on many levels. In order to be an innova-

tive country a vibrant Arts culture is necessary be-

cause it allows the mind to be flexible, take creative

risks and challenge accepted practises. This then

has a flow-on effect into other areas of learning,

industry and innovation.

Speaking of which Tony Soszynski recently re-

ceived a letter of appreciation from a teacher at

Mount Stuart Primary School. Tony has been in-

volved with our Grade 8 Drama students in Pri-

mary School programs. I have included, for your

perusal, a large portion of the letter because it aptly

describes the overall excellence of what Tony and

our boys are achieving in Drama and aptly demon-

strates the importance of Arts in our lives. Now

read on…

“This particular email is to thank you for the superb

workshop and performance to which you and your stu-

dents treated our prep children today. You must be

some kind of child whisperer, the way you had all those

little preppies totally rapt and eating out of your hand

Joseph Murphy with his Mini Carrot Cakes

for such a sustained period of time. It was inspiring to

watch you working with them, managing to involve every-

one in the drama, sparking their imaginations and enthu-

siasm. Your energy, sense of humour, quick witted im-

provisation and creativity as well as the thorough ground

work of planning and rehearsal which must have been

done before we arrived, were all amazing. It was great to

sit back and observe the way the children engaged with

what you did.”

“Your students were an absolute credit to you

and to New Town High School. How marvellous

to see teenage boys put on such a polished and

entertaining performance, and deal patiently and

kindly with our young students. Everyone, from the

technical crew to the feral goats to the talking rock (!)

seemed to carry off their role very well and the result was

very entertaining.”

“When we arrived back at school, the children couldn't

stop talking about how much fun they had had. I asked if

they'd like to write or draw something to thank you and

the boys, and all of them were keen. I have left their

offerings on our desk for Helen to bring home to you.

The fact that they were eager to make an effort last thing

on a Friday says a lot about the level of their enthusi-

asm.”

“So thanks once again, Tony, and thank you to all your

students, for a fabulously entertaining and educational

time. I must say that I can understand why my daughter,

Kathryn, and her friends always spoke so enthusiastically

about their classes with you, and why you are something

of a legend in your own lifetime amongst high school stu-

dents.”

New Town High can be proud of events like this.

Thankyou Tony for your work and thankyou to our

Grade 8 Drama boys for being professional and rep-

resenting our school at a high level. Again, New

Town High demonstrates its ability to achieve excel-

lence, indeed, excellence is the default position of

our school and something which is demanded from

boys who choose Arts subjects.

Talking of excellence, last Wednesday the Elizabeth

College Stage Band performed for our Junior and

Senior Assemblies. It was great to see many ex New

Town High School students play in this band and to

hear their very high standard of playing. They per-

formed two numbers, one with excellent female vo-

cals. The jump in standard between college and

Grade 10 demonstrates the focussed maturity that

students obtain as they build on the great skills they

learn in high school. This is why the college system

works! They were also able to give a brief talk to

our music students regarding the music ensembles

available at college.

This week we had our first Grade 7 Concert Band

rehearsals during Thursday lunch times. All Grade

7 students are welcome to attend these rehearsals

and it designed to extend the Grade 7 students

with their instrument playing skills.

Mr Sweeney has given me a rehearsal schedule for

Term 4.

Ensemble Rehearsal for Term 4

Monday 3 – 4pm – 7/8 Concert Band

Tuesday 3 -4pm – Senior Concert Band (& Com-

bined New Town/Ogilvie Senior Concert Band)

Tuesday 3 -4pm – Guitar Ensemble

Wednesday 3 -4pm – Stage Band

Thursday Lunch – Grade 7 Concert Band

Friday 8am – 8.40am – Brass Ensemble

Friday lunch – Saxophone ensemble

Mr Peter Young

HOD - Arts

WORK STUDIES EXCURSION TO

THE DEFENCE FORCE EXPO

On Friday 18 September twenty five boys from

Grades 7-10 attended the annual Defence Force

Expo. The boys enjoyed speaking with a variety of

defence and police officers during their investiga-

tion into possible options in the Australian Defence

Forces. The boys had the morning session to discover

that they could pursue a variety of careers in Trades,

Communications, IT, Medicine, Education, Rescue and

Officer Training just to name a few.

Many of the boys signed up to join the Navy, Army or

Air Force Cadets as a stepping stone towards a career in

the forces.

The interactive flight simulators were a popular exhibit

with the boys and many also had their first up close ex-

perience with troop carriers, tanks and engine exchange

and patrol vehicles. The boys were captivated by the

skill displayed by the synchronised drummers and rifle

squad in the forecourt of Pier One. All of the boys ar-

rived back at school with a ‘showbag’ of information to

study and various items such as USBs and drink bottles

to use in classes.

The boys would like to thank Mr Cooksey, Ms Ackroyd

and Miss Alexander for organising the excursion and for

their support on the day. Ms Jill Alexander

A/Assistant Principal

NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL

LEVIES POLICY Levies for the 2015 year should now be finalised.

Levies are the means by which parents/carers contribute

to the cost of their children’s education.

The contribution by parents/carers, whilst very small in

proportion to total school operating costs, is an im-

portant resource for each individual school. It is ex-

pected that parents will pay levies, and the Department

will take reasonable action to recover money where pay-

ments remain outstanding.

Levies are being finalised now and any outstanding can

paid by cash, cheque, BPay, Service Tasmania, credit card

or over-the-phone credit transactions, by telephoning

6278 0400. Any outstanding levies will be referred to

the Tas Collection Agency for recovery from this date.

We will advise eligible parents/carers when they are able

to apply for assistance through the Department’s 2016

Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) to cover next year’s

levies.

Suzi Ransom

School Executive Officer

STUDENT STATIONERY Each year, students receive a stationery kit, covered by

their levy payments and from STAS . Could parents and

students please ensure they have adequate stationery for

each class. The school will not be giving or selling sta-

tionery to students from the main office. It is the stu-

dents responsibility to ensure he has adequate stationery

needs for each of his classes.

Suzi Ransom

School Executive Officer

UNIFORM PRICE LIST

ORDER FORM FOR 2015

PARENT NAME: _____________________________ PHONE No: _________________

STUDENT NAME: ___________________________

ITEM COLOUR SIZE PRICE NO: TOTAL

FORMAL UNIFORM

Shirt, short sleeve Blue 8 –30

32

22.00

30.00

Shorts Grey 8 - 14 38.00

XS – 5XL 43.00

Trousers Grey 8 - 14 45.00

XS – 5XL 50.00

Woollen Jumper Navy 12 - 18 80.00

with school logo 20 - 30 87.00

SPORTS UNIFORM

Polo Shirt Yellow/blue 3XS – 4XL 25.00

Rugby Jumper Navy/gold trim 3XS–S

M – XXXL

50.00

52.00

Shorts Navy and yellow

stripe

8 – 3XL 30.00

Track Pants Navy/ 10 – 6XL 55.00

Yellow stripe

Spray Jacket Navy/

yellow stripe 14 – 3XL 75.00

OTHER ITEMS

Bucket Hats Navy/Gold 5.00

Navy baseball caps Navy 5.00

School Bag with logo Navy Back pack 60.00

Tie Navy/yellow 15.00

Hockey top blue S – 2XL 53.00

Hockey shorts Yellow M – XL 30.00

HOW TO ORDER UNIFORMS

IN 2015

New Town High School ordering of school uniforms can be made by:

Filling out the order form

Send it to school either via your son or through the post to 6 Midwood Street, New

Town, fax on 6278 1717 or email new.town.high@education.tas.gov.au.

Enclose your credit card details or a cheque for payment. Order over the phone is also an

option on 6278 0400.

Allowing 24 hours for the order to be filled and we will send the uniforms home with your

son and the receipt will be enclosed.

Thank you

PAYMENT BY CREDIT CARD

Date

Student Name: ________________________________ Home Group: ___________

Credit Card Numbers

Exp Date CSC/CVN

Number

_____________________________________________________________________

Full Name on Credit Card

Visa Master Card

Qty Description Dollars Cents

Total

New Town High School

6 Midwood Street, New Town, TAS 7008

Phone: 6278 0400

Absence Line: 6278 0499

Fax: 6278 1717

E-mail: new.town.high@education.tas.gov.au

Web: newtownhighschootas.gov.au

https://www.facebook.com/NTHSTasmania

CONGRATULATIONS TO

NEW TOWN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM FOR

WINNING THE TASSIE HAWKS CUP