Montrose Bay High School Newsletter - Term 4 Week 5

Principal's Report

Dear Families,

Welcome to our latest newsletter. Our newsletter comes out every week five and nine of each term. It is emailed to our families that are on our email list and is also uploaded to Facebook and available in printed copy at our front office. We also celebrate learning and share news every week on our Facebook Page and reminders on the digital signage on the Brooker Highway.

Uniform Update

As you hopefully have seen our new school hoodies arrived this term which were co-designed by our students and have been a big hit. We sell them for exactly what they cost the school which is $55. Since arriving at the beginning of the term the hoodies have sold really well, and it is great to see the bulk majority of our students in full school uniform.

Our grade 9 students are currently sorting out their sizing requirements for their 2023 Leavers hoodies which they will get at the beginning of next year ready for them to start grade 10.

Tops

We have pushed uniform with our students this term as we get ready for the warmer months and students are no longer allowed to wear a non-school hoodie under their school jackets. We have lots of top options with our polo shirts, jackets, 3/4 zip jumper, rugby jumper and school hoodie.

Bottoms

Our pants colour is navy, and we sell school trackpants, leggings and shorts here at the front office. However, our students can wear any navy pants that they wish as long as they don’t have overly large logos etc on them.

Dragonfly Arts Festival

This Thursday afternoon we are returning to a much-loved MBHS tradition of the Dragonfly Arts Festival which we haven’t had up and running again since pre-covid days.

It starts at 3.45pm in the courtyard outside of the performing arts centre before moving into the centre itself. Our Arts team as well as lots of other teachers and teaching teams have put together music items, robotic displays, fashion, catering, digital technologies, drama performances, dance performances and both junior and senior concert band items.

The festival starts at 3.45pm and runs through to 6pm. We would love to see you there!

As always please keep in touch with our school and follow our journey on Facebook and through our school newsletter and school app product.

Duncan Groves

Principal

School Association-Montrose Bay High

Hello and welcome to Term 4, the end of another year that seems to have slipped by faster than ever. The School Association is always looking for new people, and now is no exception. We have about six or seven meetings for the year and are typically held on the second Tuesday of every month at 5 o’clock.  Why not start an early New Year’s resolution and come along to the next meeting which will be held on 22 November at 5 o’clock . 

Looking forward to seeing some new faces.

Earle Patman on behalf of the School Association

Grade 7

On Friday, students from Grade 7 were given the opportunity to participate in a range of Science based activities at the UTAS campus in Sandy Bay. Students enjoyed a wide variety of activities including wind turbine design, identification of animal skulls and some engaging demonstrations on the effects of liquid nitrogen.

A huge thank you to the staff at UTAS for hosting us and creating a fun and engaging environment for our students. A thank you also to our Grade 7 team, especially Mr Archer, for the time taken to organise and prepare our students for the day. We look forward to our next visit!

Grade 7 Team

Grade 8

It has been a busy start to the term for the Grade 8 staff and students. Term 4 is an exciting time of the year; however, the students have been applying themselves in all learning areas to finish the year off on a positive note. We have welcomed Sam Cure, who has joined the grade 8 team and will work as the grade 8 Assistant Principal.

Drama

Students have explored a range of dramatic forms and how to communicate with an audience using a range of techniques. This term, students have begun to develop their own radio scripts where they have to create a 2-3 minute radio play using sound effects, accents and interesting character voices. They must also create their own 30-second advertisements to be included in their plays. Students develop knowledge, understanding and skills about vocal techniques, articulation and developing characters and performance styles.

Health and Wellbeing
Grade 8 students are currently working in teams in a Sport Education Roster. Students are taking on the role of duty team, where they score, umpire and provide constructive feedback for their peers and award sportsmanship each week. Students are participating in a variety of sports that they have learnt fundamental skills throughout the year. Last week students began their first sport of Thunder Hockey, keep an eye on social media for their progress.

Maths and Science

In Grade 8 Mathematics this term we have been learning about Data and Statistics. We have been exploring the pros and cons of the census and sample surveys, as well as techniques of sampling populations and the sources and effects of bias on data. By calculating the mean, median, mode and range of data, we have learnt to use sample data to make predictions about population data. 

In Grade 8 Science this term we have been investigating cells as the building blocks of all living organisms. We have learnt about the organelles inside cells that help cells perform their functions and that in multicellular organisms not all cells are the same. We have seen that cells in multicellular organisms work together by becoming specialised to perform specific functions. 

In Humanities students have been learning about how they can influence or make changes on civic issues of concern to them. The focus has been on understanding Australian democracy and how everyday citizens can participate. Students will understand the impact and influence they can have in society and how to be active and informed citizens.

This learning is important to empower our students to have a voice around issues in our society. As part of this unit, students have been learning to unpack important information texts and how to check the reliability of the information they are using.

The assessment task due by the end of next week is a persuasive letter or speech to the relevant government member about an issue of their choice. It has been great to see students choosing important civic issues including homelessness in Hobart, the rising cost of living, racism and climate change.    

Grade 8 Team

Grade 9

Term 4 has seen Year 9 exploring WW1, examining the causes and nature of the world’s first industrial war, specific events, the development of technologies and social change.  They will go on to examine the social effects on Australia (such as post-war feminism) and spend time investigating the lives of soldiers involved both during and after the conflict.  Year 10 History will see them study the continuation of events throughout the 20^th Century to bring them up to the modern era.

Our English work this term is aligned with this topic also, examining poetry from different perspectives concerning enlistment, patriotism and trench life.  During this work, we are focussing on differences in tone, purpose and style between different poets and learning to identify a poet based on their work.  We will conclude our Year 9 English program with a film study on Marvel’s Black Panther, tying in with our themes of colonialism and national identity from earlier in the year.

We recently received notice that several Montrose Bay High students have received awards in the National History Challenge, having submitted assignments to be eligible for this competition in early Term 3.  Lucy Taylor received an award from the Premier at a recent prize ceremony and Bailey Iles, Mariah McShane, Montanna Arnold, Will Cragg and Ruby Blizzard were also awarded bronze certificates by the judging panel.  Year 9 staff are proud of all students who entered the competition and thrilled that our students have been recognised for their achievements!

Grade 9 Humanities

Grade 10

What a joyful start to our Year 10’s final term we have had with students joining in with Halloween and pink dress-ups to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. This term will be full of great opportunities for our students and many have already engaged in a range of activities. A small group of students participated in the Beacon Polish program last week where they learned essential skills for entering the workforce and engaging professionally with others. They learned the important “dos and dont's” of job interviews and had the opportunity to network with Managers and CEOs of a range of companies.

On Monday, we finalised enrolments with Claremont College. Each student met with a Claremont staff member to discuss their options in Year 11 and beyond and finalised course selection for 2023. Wednesday saw most of our Year 10s experience their final Montrose Bay High Aquatics Day. It was lovely to see everyone getting involved and enjoying themselves, as always, the Flamingo races and novelty events were a highlight and we congratulate all students who competed in the 50m events.

Now, at the end of Week 3, we are putting the final touches on items for Dragonfly. Students have put an amazing amount of time and effort into their pieces and we hope you are able to come along and have a look at their final products.

In the coming weeks, Year 10s will begin preparing for their exams. This is an important time for our students when they will have the opportunity to experience a formal exam setting and also demonstrate their subject knowledge to their teachers.

Finally, as the year continues to fly by, a friendly reminder for students to make their payment for Celebration week to the front office no later than Friday 25^th November.

Grade 10 Team

Grade 11 - 12

This week our Year 11 crew are wrapping up their final assessment pieces and preparing for an extra long summer holiday. These guys have done an AMAZING job this year and we’re looking forward to working with many of them again for Year 12 and are sad but excited to farewell those who are onto face new challenges elsewhere.

For our final week, we’ll be completing First Aid and RSA qualifications as well as having a dinner to celebrate an amazing effort this year.

Thank you to the families and staff of our Year 11 crew for all your support this year!

Danni Bewley - AST

Student Leaders - Term 4

This term the Student Leaders decided to kick off with a round of fundraising to support Breast Cancer research. We started with an ‘on Wednesdays we wear PINK day’, followed by a dress-up day and bake sale for Halloween and then finished it off with soft drink sales. To help encourage our school community to get involved, James and Zach from the Grade 10 team volunteered to dye their hair pink if we managed to raise $475. Students smashed this out of the park, raising a total of $631 and the Montrose Breast Cancer Awareness online fundraiser has now reached a whopping $1132.

Coming up this Term the Student Leaders will be busy organising a Salvo’s Christmas Appeal and the school’s annual Lip Sync battle.

Make sure you check out our Facebook page for updates.

Swimming Carnival - 2022

Sunshine and smiles from all who attended the MBHS Swimming Carnival/Aquatics Morning on Wednesday the 9^th of November. A big thank you to all the staff members who helped make the morning run smoothly. 

Highlights from the day were the impressive bombs from our Grade 10 students, some speedy trips down the waterslide from our Grade 8's, and a lot of laughter coming from our Grade 9 swan and flamingo races. 

A special mention to our Grade 7 students for having the highest attendance on the day, it was great to see so many of you enjoying your first High School Swimming Carnival. 

Overall House Results

1^st - 107 points = Faulkner

2^nd - 79 points = O'Brien 

3^rd - 77 points = Austin 

4^th - 69 points = Dowsing 

Congratulations to Faulkner, fantastic team effort! 

24 Carrot Garden

As we move into spring and then summer, there are lots happening in the garden. We have been busy harvesting, pulling out and composting our old winter crops, then preparing the garden beds with fresh compost ready to plant. Some of the veggies we are planting are lettuce, zucchini, melons, pumpkins, peas, beans, sunflowers, red silverbeet, potatoes, spring onions and of course, our famous tomatoes.

Excursion to MONA

As a reward for 7E’s Scarecrow Competition win and a thank you to some Year 7 garden volunteers, we went on an excursion to MONA on the last day of Term 3. The excursion was an opportunity to meet one of Tasmania’s best landscaping gardeners, the head landscaper at MONA, Ben Essex. Ben gave us a tour of the MONA gardens and behind-the-scenes areas, many of which are banned to the public. It was so awesome to hear about the jobs a landscaper must do and the perks of Ben’s job at MONA. Pictured below is the MONA veggie patch, which supplies their kitchens with herbs and veggies you can’t buy in the shops. MONA veggie patch has a great view of the Derwent towards Montrose.

Dates to Remember

School Notices

STUDENTS ARRIVING LATE
If a student arrives late to school for any reason, they must sign in at Student Admin. 

If a student misses Connect, a parent/guardian will receive an SMS for this absence.

If you know your child has arrived late, please allow 15-20min for the second SMS to be generated.  You will not receive a second SMS if your child does not sign in a Student Admin.

If you have advised a reason for your child’s late arrival, you will still receive this message as it is an automated response.

Here are examples of the SMS messages you will receive if:

YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT FROM SCHOOL – CURRENT DAY

MontroseBayHS records show STUDENT NAME is absent Tue, 20/09/22. Please reply student name/reason/date or call 6208 2699

YOUR CHILD WAS ABSENT FROM SCHOOL – PREVIOUS ATTENDANCE

MontroseBayHS records show NO REASON GIVEN for the absence of STUDENT NAME on Wed, 07/09/22.please respond immediately with reason

Canteen Payments

If your child is ordering food from the canteen, the payment MUST be made via either cash or card. We are unable to accept payment using a phone. 

School App

Please sign up for our new school app. Below is a step by step instruction on how to download