Taroona High School

Department of Education

Key Dates for 2016 & 2017

Wed 14 December

Small Day Out

Thu 15 December – 6.30pm

Grade 10 Formal

Mon 19 December

Grade 9 Leadership Day

Grade 10 Picnic

Reports Home

Tue 20 December – 6.30pm

Presentation Evening

Wed 21 December

Grade 10 Leavers’ Assembly & Picnic Day

Last Day for Students

Wed 8 February 2017

First Day for Students

Mon 13 February

Hobart Regatta Holiday

Thu 16 February

THSA Welcome Barbecue

Tue 21 – Fri 24 February

Grade 7 Activities

Tue 28 February

School Swimming Carnival

Wed 1 & Thu 2 March

School Photos

Tue 13 March

8 Hour Day Holiday

Tue 21 March

Grade 7 Vaccinations

Wed 5 April

Inter-high Swimming Carnival

Sun 9 – Tue 11 April

Senior Band Camp, Orana

Taroona News 9 Tue 13 December 2016

Pick Up and Drop Off Before and After School

Local residents have complained that they are unable to exit or access their residences because of

vehicles waiting to pick up students from school parking over their driveways. Police have

conducted patrols and will continue to do so, but we ask parents to avoid blocking driveways and

parking in ‘No Standing’ zones in the streets surrounding Taroona High School, in particular

Flinders Esplanade and the Channel Hwy.

2017 Levies

There will be a small increase in school levies for 2017:

Grades 7 & 8 $635.00

Grades 9 & 10 $700.00

Invoices for Levies will be posted home in January. Parents and carers are advised that

payment is due prior to the commencement of the school year, unless you have made

arrangements to pay levies by instalment on the agreement form that will soon be

posted home with permission forms for 2017.

2016 School Levy Payments

All outstanding Levies are now overdue. Invoices not paid by the end of the year will

be referred to the Department of Education for further action. Payment

arrangements that are already in place for 2016 will continue.

Belinda Johnson

School Business Manager

Musical Instrument Levy

All outstanding Musical Instrument Levies for 2016 are overdue. Please pay now, as a

matter of urgency.

Glenn Schultz

Head of Music

Leaving Students

If your child/ren will not be attending Taroona High School in 2017, please advise the

school office in writing – an email to taroona.high@education.tas.gov.au will suffice.

Student Timetables for 2017

All students will be provided with their timetables on the first day of school next year.

Unless I have contacted them, they should have been allocated all the courses they

requested.

Susan Flinn, Assistant Principal

Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) 2017

STAS students will be given a stationery pack and will not

be required to purchase stationery.

STAS application forms for 2017 are now available for families

who did not apply for or receive STAS in 2016. Families who

were approved and received STAS in 2016 have been sent

correspondence directly from the Department.

The forms can be downloaded from

https://www.education.tas.gov.au/documentcentre/Documents

/Student-Assistance-Scheme-(STAS)-Application-Form.pdf or

are available at the school office. Completed forms can be

returned to the Department by post, fax, or scanned and

emailed to stas@education.tas.gov.au.

Lockers and Lost Property

Please note and emphasise to your children that lockers must be

cleared out prior to the end of the school year. Locks will be cut and

contents disposed of before the new school year.

The lost property bins are overflowing. Please ask your

children to check the bins outside Student Services for lost

clothing. Other items that have been handed in, including

books, pencil cases etc. are held at Student Services.

Anything not claimed by the last day of school will be

disposed of.

Office Opening Hours

The School Office will be open between 9.00am and 3.00pm

from Wednesday 25 January 2017 (closed for Australia Day

Holiday on Thursday 26 January) until Tuesday 7 February,

when the normal opening times of 8.00am to 4.00pm will

resume.

Term Dates for 2017

Term 1 Monday 6 & Tuesday 7 February (Professional

Learning Days – students do not attend)

Wednesday 8 February (First Day for Students)

Thursday 13 April (Moderation Day – students

do not attend)

Easter Friday 14 – Tuesday 18 April (inclusive)

Term 2 Monday 1 May - Friday 7 July

Term 3 Monday 24 July (Professional Learning Day –

students do not attend) – Friday 29 September

Term 4 Monday 16 October – Thursday 21 December

(Friday 27 October - Professional Learning

Day – students do not attend)

School Hours

The school day begins at 8.30am with a 10 minute Home

Group for attendance to be taken and the Bulletin to be read.

There are two 80 minute periods before recess, another 80

minute period between recess and lunch and the fourth

period of one hour is after lunch, as outlined below.

School finishes at 2.40pm.

8.30 – 8.40am Home Group

8.40 – 10.00am Period 1

10.00 – 11.20am Period 2

11.20 – 11.40 am Recess

11.40 am – I.00pm Period 3

1.00 – 1.40 pm Lunch

1.40 – 2.40 pm Period 4

Homestay Families Sought for 2017

Taroona High School will be hosting our fourth Hanban

Chinese teacher assistant from February. In the past, local

families have kindly provided hospitality and accommodation

for several weeks or several months for the visitors. Our

incoming visitor, Ms YAN Jinling has studied in Henan and in

Dalian. She will be one of four language assistants in Tasmania

and the only one in the state school system. Hanban language

assistants support students studying Chinese while learning

more about life in Australia. A small allowance is provided to

defray the cost of providing homestay. If you would like to

offer homestay for a short or longer time, please contact

Hingor Chung (Chinese teacher) hingor.chung@education.tas.gov.au.

Student Representative Council 2017

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students who have

been elected to the SRC for 2017:

Arya Aaditya Paul Bobenhausen

Lilith Cole Lana Eastaugh

William Grant Nathan Green

Isabella McGinn Bryher McKeown

Emma Stalker Beatrice Thurston-Reagan

Mia Woodfall Jim Woolley

Abigail Woods

Maths Report

Australian Maths Enrichment Program

Dedication and hard work was required for this program. It

was run by the Australian Mathematics Trust for

approximately three months. Students had to work through a

massive amount of practice questions before they actually

attempted the eight problems they submitted for assessment.

Our notable success stories were:

Grade 7: Kate Poynter (High Distinction) Guy Robertson,

Isaac Scott (Distinction), Declan Taylor, Jack Hayen (Credit)

Grade 8: Sejal Aryal (Credit)

Grade 9: Will Kuplis (Credit)

Special Recognition to Marcus Rees

Marcus was once again selected to attend the special Maths

School of Excellence program in Melbourne from 1 - 10

December, following his success in the Australian Maths

Competition. He has been in the company of the best student

mathematicians in Australia as they extend their skills and

problem solving abilities. From these students, the Australian

Maths Olympiad team will be selected to participate in the

World Maths Olympiad next year. Good luck Marcus.

Students’ Achievements

Congratulations to Aidan Terry (7T) on becoming state

champion in the Recurve Bow (Archery). Aidan won the State

Target Championship in his age category for the boys Under

13 recurve and achieved a new personal best result.

Callum Roberts (8G) was the winner of the recent Best

Original Song Competition, which was part of the very

successful inaugural Taroona Art Trail, held along the Taroona

foreshore on Saturday November 19. Well done, Callum!

Callum has been writing original songs and playing guitar for a

number of years now and also amazed the crowd at Ember

back in July with another of his originals. Callum’s song-

writing style follows on in a similar vein to many great writers

such as Paul Kelly and Bob Dylan, singing lyrics inspired by life

and global events. Keep an eye out for future performances

from Callum; you won't be disappointed.

Luiz Sousa (9A) and Simon Vivarelli (9A) represented

Tasmania in the Football Federation of Australia’s National

Training Centre Challenge (national soccer tournament) held

at Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from 5 – 9

December.

Congratulations to Clare Scott (9R) on being selected in the

U15 Tasmania Girls Cricket team.

Congratulations to Raph Corney (9G) and Lily Holloway

(9G) on their fantastic success in the Pole Vault at the recent

Australian All Schools Championships.

U16 - Raph Corney (1st) and Lily Holloway (7th)

U18 - Raph Corney (1st) and Lily Holloway (8th)

UN Youth Voice

On Saturday 26 November, Taroona High School had a

double win in the state finals of the UN Youth Voice public

speaking competition. Olivia Bayly (8B) was the state winner

of the junior title, while Tasman Hughes (10T) was the state

winner of the senior title. Jessica Pursell (8R) also competed

in the finals and spoke very confidently. Congratulations to all.

Olivia and Tasman will represent Tasmania in the national

competition next April.

Australian Volleyball Schools’ Cup

Toby Mison, Angus Spurio,

Sidney Hayes, Emily Evans and

Sienna Taylor-Gibson recently

competed in the Australian

Volleyball Schools’ Cup in

Melbourne. This event is the

largest school-based sporting

event in the Southern

Hemisphere, attracting 491

teams from 133 schools across

Australia and New Zealand. The

students have trained hard within the Tasmanian Volleyball

Academy and played in a series of school events and southern

competitions in preparation for the AVSC.

Learning Centre Camp

On Tuesday 29 November, students from the THS Learning

Centre went on a bus to Dover and the Far South Wilderness

Camp. We stayed overnight and had two days of activities!

On the first day, we arrived,

unpacked our bags and moved into

the cabins. The lady that worked at

the camp was Caroline and she

showed us around the campsite.

Caroline showed us the bikes and

everyone had a go! We helped

with the cooking and had a BBQ for

dinner, apple crumble for dessert

and later toasted marshmallows on

the fire. After dinner we built a raft

and Mrs Marsh gave it a test float.

On day two, we packed up and took the bus to Hastings Cave.

We swam in the pool; even though it was a little bit cold, we

still had a good time. Lunch was a picnic, it rained a bit so we

took shelter and then caught the bus back to school. Overall,

our camp was heaps of fun, everyone had a great time

although some of us brought home a mozzie bite or two!

Taylah Thorne (9Y) and Jess Hinze (9Y)

Beach Volleyball

On Tuesday 29 November, Volleyball Tasmania hosted a one

day Beach Volleyball event at Kingston Beach. There were 45

teams from 12 schools in eight divisions across nine courts.

What happened? We met at 9.30am for our introduction to

the day. Teams from Grade 7 to College starting playing at

10.00.

The weather was amazing, there were no clouds to be seen

and the sun was blazing. Loud and motivating music was

playing for the whole day, while each and every team played

and helped referee a game. As we were slowly getting

towards the finals round, it began to rain and everyone had to

rush to shelter. The teams in the grand final had to go on and

play in the cold and wet conditions but, luckily for Taroona

High School, we had three champion teams.

Congratulations to all teams who participated; we were

fortunate enough to have a team in every grand final game

except for one. The winning teams were, Division 1 Senior

Girls, Division 2 Senior Girls and Division 1 Senior Boys. BIG

thanks to Miss Coombe for running

the day.

Jye Bakes (10R)

Are you looking for an adventure this summer?

Applications are now open for the Tasmanian Student Voyage,

the opportunity for students to be involved in a 10 day youth

development voyage aboard the Windeward Bound!

Collect a flyer from Student Services for more information or

go to www.windewardbound.com.au or email

TSV@windewardbound.com.au to register! Apply now – the

closing date is 1 January 2017.

FILM - THS Cutting Edge Productions

2016 has been another great year for film production, with the

Film Department making films for other learning areas;

History, English, International Students, STEM, Music and a

national award-winning documentary on the Franklin River by

Beatrice Thurston-Regan.

Most students in the film classes were able to complete their

major assignment, a film for the MyState Film Festival, with the

genres ranging from music videos to drama to animations.

With storytelling at its heart, it is quite a challenge for

students to transform their ideas into short films, and whilst

many films were filmed at school, quite a few were also filmed

out of school, at weekends and in the evenings, with students

filming on buses, farms, beaches, Mt Field, and down along

creek beds and in tunnels.

Congratulations to all students who were able to complete a

film, as making one certainly involves a lot work with planning,

filming, editing and collaboration. Two films that need special

mention are the animations:

Miyuki - Amara Gantz (G9)

Emily - Avon Blazely and Kris Nash (G10)

Both of these amazing productions involved about 300 hours

of work, with the creation of nearly 4000 frames.

MyState Film Festival

The MyState Film Festival is Tasmania’s leading youth film

festival, open to students across Tasmania from primary

school through to university.

With a large contingent of Taroona High students attending

the awards ceremony at the Theatre Royal, and with nearly

300 hundred short films from around the state entered, the

competition was always going to be tough and to be

shortlisted in any category is quite a feat. Out of a possible

twelve categories, THS made the final in nine of them. In that

context, the following students are congratulated on their

nominations and wins (click on the links to watch the films –

they’re short and awesome!):

2016 MyState Film Festival Nominations

Miyuki

(Amara Gantz G9)

Best High School Film

Premier’s Award

Best Animation - Winner

Best Sound Design

Technical Achievement

Most Promising Filmmaker

Emily

(Avon Blazely and Kris Nash G10)

Best Animation - Winner

Best Sound Design

Best Original Score - Winner

Technical Achievement

Most Promising Filmmaker - Winner

Changes

(Madi Heazlewood G8)

Best Music Video - Winner

Most Engaging Talent – ‘Changes’ and ‘RED’

RED

(Pippa Groom G8)

Most Promising Filmmaker

The Triangle Space

(Georgia Kokkoris and Co G10)

Most Engaging Talent

And here’s what happens when students leave THS and go to

Hobart College - they are indeed impressive:

Director’s Cut

(James Thurstans G11)

Most Engaging Talent - Winner

Most Promising Filmmaker

People’s Choice Award - Winner

One Step Behind

(Sam Tooker G11)

Best Screenplay

Best Audio Design - Winner

Technical Achievement

Best Post Yr10/ Uni Film - Winner

Derby Development

(Tim Harmsen G12)

Best Documentary

Eighteen

(Johann Burgess G11)

People’s Choice Award

Thanks to MyState for all their support and congratulations to

all students here and at Hobart College on their success.

Robert Gawlik, Media Arts – Film

Rotary Youth Exchange

Sienna Taylor-Gibson (10B) has been

selected by the Rotary Club of

Kingston to go to Finland for a 12

month sponsored Youth exchange.

She received her jacket from District

Governor Gerard Blizzard while at

camp in Forth with other out-bound

students.

Anyone interested in participating in an exchange program can

contact Rotary through Youthexchange@rotary9830.org.au or www.ryea.org.au. The program offers a fantastic

opportunity for students to live and learn in an overseas

country, often leading into lifelong friendships and interactions

between families around the world. Students would usually

depart in mid-January and return home the following January.

Night Sky Photography Opportunity for Students

Are you keen to learn how to photograph the night sky,

constellations, planets, auroras?

If you want to know more, contact:

Shanna Rudov-Clark - Aurora Australis Chasers and Night Sky

Photographers

Phone: 0418 545 128

Email: talesofscienceandmagic@gmail.com

Email is the preferred contact method.

Rotary Civics & Citizenship Essay Competition

Rotary Hobart recently held a Civics and Citizenship essay

writing competition with the topic Should we be compelled to

vote? Students from Mrs Chilcott's 8 Red class have taken out

1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. Congratulations to Yvette Duhig who

won $500 for 1st prize, Annwen Roberts for winning $200 for

2nd place and Sarah Ford in 3rd place with $100. The Mercury

will be publishing Yvette's essay shortly.

Australian Wooden Boat Festival Canoe-building Clinic

Fri 10 – Mon 13 February 2017

An exciting opportunity exists for a group of 4 - 6 young

people aged between 12 and 18, together with an adult group

leader, to build a sturdy plywood canoe, finished and ready to

float in just four days. All materials will be provided by

sponsors, BoatCraft Pacific and Drive Marine Services, and the

boat will be yours to use as you see fit – group activities, raffle

or sell it to raise funds, or simply to have fun in.

This is a terrific group exercise that promotes teamwork,

planning skills, confidence, manual dexterity and the safe use of

tools. The young people will be under the guidance of a

professional boat building instructor, as well as your

nominated adult team leader.

For further information call Paul Cullen, General Manager of

the AWBF on 6223 3375 or email

paulj.kerrison@bigpond.com. The closing date for

applications is Thursday 15 December.

The Drowsy Chaperone

Congratulations to everyone involved in the marvellous school production, The Drowsy Chaperone. To all the students involved in

on-stage, musical and behind-the-scenes work, well done. To the staff, Honni Chilcott, Javier Duharte and Glenn Schultz who put

so much effort into their work with the students, our thanks and admiration. The production was enjoyed by many, including

children from our feeder primary schools, who attended matinee performances. Photography by Karen Brown

CONTACT DETAILS Meath Ave, TAROONA, TAS 7053 Phone: 03 6227 7700 Fax: 03 6227 7799 Email: taroona.high@education.tas.gov.au Web: http://education.tas.edu.au/taroonahigh

Rugby Union Academy

The Rugby Union Academy is Tasmania’s

first and only rugby academy, catering not

only for rugby players, but also youngsters

between the ages of 7 years old and 18

years old, interested in learning about the

game, developing their rugby and having

fun.

The Academy is aimed towards rugby players aged 12 - 18

years’ old who are looking to get the edge over their

competitors. Trainings are drill, skill and technique based

sessions developed to help improve rugby player’s knowledge,

skills and techniques, who are coached by experienced and

accredited rugby coaches.

The Academy is comprised of two consecutive sessions, each

running for two hours. It is recommended that players attend

both of these consecutive sessions, as coaches will build on

skills and drills over the two days.

Programs are run during the school holidays from 9.00am -

3.00pm. Go to the website and see when we are running a

program near you. Join in the fun, get active, develop your

skills and learn to play rugby.

Website www.therugbyunionacademy.com

Email: admin@therugbyunionacademy.com