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Tasmanian eSchool
Department of Education
Review has been successfully concluded with very positive
feedback from the panel. The panel consisted of experienced
northern and southern Principals who visited both campuses
concurrently over a two day period. Most staff were interviewed,
some students, parents and community members to consider
how well our school was improving outcomes for learners. I have
included in this edition an abbreviated version of the findings of
the Review. If you would like to read the full document, please
contact me so that I may forward you a copy:
In continuing our focus on improvement, I would like to
reinforce to our school community that consistent attendance of
a child at school is critical for their future success.
Key Dates
March
Monday 30 Whole School Activity
Day in Campbell Town
April
Thursday 9 Student Free day K-10
Term 1 ends
Friday 10 Good Friday
Monday 13 Easter Monday
Tuesday 14 Easter Tuesday
Monday 27 Term 2 commences
eConnections Issue No.1 March 13 2020
Connected, engaged, successful global citizens
From the Principal
Term 1 has started very smoothly with
students quickly settling in to classes
and navigating their way through the
changes that a new school year brings.
New subjects from Prep to Year 10,
changes to class structures and
timetables have brought some exciting, innovative practice to our
teaching and learning program. New staff have also been warmly
welcomed.
Ellie Burley has joined the Northern Campus teaching English &
HASS. Laura Dare has joined the Southern Campus as a Support
Teacher and Linda Powell is the new AST of Years 11 & 12,
replacing Gill Cannell who retired at the end of 2019. Our
support team (south) have welcomed two new School
Psychologists, Alana Czerniawski and Anna Read. I look forward
to their contributions to our school.
In the last week of Term 4 I was notified that the school would
undergo an External Review in Week 2 of Term 1 this year. This
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Parents/Guardians have a legal obligation to ensure a
child is attending school and to explain to the school
when a child is absent. The new Education Act 2016
specifies the reasons a child can be authorised not to
attend school. The Parent Fact Sheet will help explain
what is considered to be an authorised absence and
what will happen if a child is absent for a reason not
listed. A copy of this is also viewable on page 8 of this
edition. This year we have initiated Attendance and
Engagement Officers at both campuses, who will be
working with students with low attendance rates or
who are at risk of disengaging. Teresa Meader
(Northern Campus) and Cindy Hill (Southern Campus)
will be supported by Pastoral Care Teachers, our
Support Team of Social Workers and School
Psychologists and our Assistant Principals to ensure
every child is engaged in learning.
Tracking the attendance of our leaners in an online
context can be difficult. This year we have introduced a
whole school model of marking attendance to provide
consistency and more accurate attendance records.
Students will be marked as present if their name is in
Blackboard. However, if they leave, or arrive late this
will be recorded as unauthorised unless parent
permission is provided under the authorised absences
guidelines. Unauthorised arrivals and departures during
lesson times will contribute to the triggering of an
absence alert for attendance letters to be generated. As
always, I encourage all parents/guardians to
communicate regularly with their child’s Pastoral Care
teacher or contact the school office of an absence. As
we move to a new automated messaging system, SMS
messages will soon be sent out later in the evening to
avoid attendance information being sent to families
during one of the busiest times of the day.
Finally, I would like to bring your attention to our
whole school Activities Day coming up at Campbell
Town Recreation Centre on March 30th.
It would be wonderful to see lots of students at this
event. More information about the day can be read on
page 3 of this edition.
Contents
Whole School Activity Day ................................................... 3
News .......................................................................................... 3
Primary Science ................................................................... 3
Senior Secondary for 2020 ............................................... 3
Social Art Groups ............................................................... 4
Digital Technology .............................................................. 4
Music ...................................................................................... 4
Senior Secondary Art ........................................................ 5
Northern Campus meet and greet BBQ ...................... 6
Southern Activity Day – Legacy Park ............................. 7
Parent Information .................................................................. 8
Northern Campus upgrade .............................................. 8
Authorised Absence ........................................................... 8
Setting up for Success ........................................................ 9
Our Community ...................................................................... 9
Annual General Meeting.................................................... 9
Lego Competition ............................................................. 10
Health and Wellbeing News ............................................... 10
2020 Wellbeing Survey .................................................... 10
Student Wellbeing Hub ........................................................ 10
Safe Internet Day .............................................................. 10
Student ‘Drop In’ ................................................................ 10
Library ................................................................................. 11
SRC ...................................................................................... 11
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Whole School Activity Day
Our first state wide Activity Day will be held at
Campbell Town at the Recreation Centre on Monday
March 30. A flyer with all the details was recently sent
home to all families. We encourage all students to
attend this fun day as it provides students with an
opportunity to meet their teachers, catch up with class
members and meet new people.
Our focus for the day is on providing physical wellbeing
activities as this is part of Department of Education’s
2020 Wellbeing focus. Research tells us that students
will perform better academically if they are engaged in
some form of physical activity. It’s also fun to be
involved in a sport or an activity.
Some of the activities are:
music, tennis, playground games, Lego
competition, yoga activities, challenge games
and swimming.
A parent information session will also be run on the day
by Mai (School Psychologist) and two of our teachers,
Teresa and Cindy. This will be a great opportunity for
parents to participate in the 1-2-3 Magic & Emotion
Course which is supported by the Tasmanian eSchool
School Association.
This course can show parents/guardians how to better
relate, understand and manage their children’s
behaviour between the ages of 2 to 12.
The first session will be a one-hour introductory
workshop and will offer a brief overview of the 1-2-3
Magic & Emotion Course, along with some practical
strategies to use immediately.
What: 1-2-3 Magic & Emotion Introduction
When: 1.00 – 2.00 pm, 30 March (after lunch)
Where: Campbell Town Activity Day
Who: Cindy Hill, Teresa Meader and Mai
Frandsen
RSVP: by 25 March to
News
Primary Science
Students in the Years K-6 Science are exploring space.
Lola’s rain experiment Luke’s Solar System
Dalton and Lewis’ Sparkling galaxies
Senior Secondary for 2020
The Senior Secondary 2020 staff
This year the Senior Secondary staff are delivering 16
different TASC subjects and by accessing the VLT
courses a number of students are also studying Level 3
courses such as General Maths 3, Environmental
Science 3, Psychology 3 and Health Studies 3.
Our focus at this stage of a student’s education
continues to be the TCE, Tasmanian Certificate of
Education. As part of this process some students in
Year 12 will be sitting an ICT Online Test on April 7th.
There are two other opportunities for students later in
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the year and if you think your child may need to do this
please email the Senior Secondary AST.
For Level 3 students we are just starting the process to
apply for Reasonable Adjustments, if needed, when
sitting exams at the end of the year. Information and
application forms will be sent to Level 3 students.
Completed forms must be returned by May 20th.
Reporting and Parent – Teacher interviews
The first Interim Report for senior secondary students
will be posted on Monday 18 March. This is only a short
report but will indicate if there are any early areas of
concern. There will be two written reports later in the
year.
For this first report Parents / Guardians are invited to
have a phone conversation with subject teachers during
the week of 23 – 27 March to discuss current progress
and areas of concern. Details will be provided in the
report mail out. If you have any concerns about
courses, assessment TCE or other senior secondary
matters please contact Linda Powell AST Senior
Secondary – [email protected]
Social Art Groups
We have had a colourful start to the year in our arty
afternoon groups. Friday’s artists have been getting
creative with collages inspired by the award winning
author/illustrator, Jeannie Baker. We had a close look at
her book ‘Windows”, and drew ideas to create our
own view ‘through a window’. Students are using all
sorts of found materials such as herbs, seed pods,
fabric, rice and paper to create some truly beautiful art.
Thursday’s artists are about to start their own
inspirational posters using song lyrics, poetry or prose.
A range of mediums are available to spice up our
posters including watercolour dyes, pencils and oil
pastels. If you think you would enjoy a quiet arty
afternoon to relax & meet other students, please
contact the Southern Campus office on 6282 8181
Sheri (Teacher Assistant)
Digital Technology
2020 Bebras Australia Computational Thinking
Challenge
The 2020 Bebras Australia Computational Thinking
Challenge (www.bebras.edu.au) is part of an
international initiative whose goal is to promote
computational thinking amongst students.
Bebras is aligned with and supports the Australian
Digital Technologies Curriculum.
This year the Tasmanian eSchool’s Primary and
Secondary Digital Technologies teachers (Sally
Campbell, Ann Barnes and Jacci Cruse) will be offering
students the opportunity to participate in this challenge
between the 9th and 23rd March. Teachers will be
sending you more information about this challenge
along with a Participation and Privacy Consent Form.
Please complete these forms and return to the school
so your child can participate in this fun challenge. If you
have any questions please contact your child’s Digital
Technologies teacher.
Music
Online music lessons for primary and secondary
students have begun and students have been busily
joining in on a range of activities. The focus is on
developing skills in listening, performing and composing
music. A lesson will have a range of activities such as
listening to examples of music in a variety of styles.
Students are also encouraged to join in on singing songs
to develop their voices in a friendly setting. I believe
that everyone who can speak, laugh or smile can sing. I
hope to build a repertoire of songs that are familiar to
all students at the school that we can sing or perform
together at Activity Days, camps and at the
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Presentation Day Assembly. Students with instruments
are encouraged to watch the online videos to develop
their skills. There are guitars and ukuleles available to
borrow from the library. We also have keyboards at
the Southern Campus for students to use.
For those students without instruments we are using
the modern musical instrument, the computer, to play
and compose music. There are many free apps available
that are ideal to teach students about music. Chrome
Music Labs have several apps that we use in lessons.
The Song Maker lets students with absolutely no
musical background the opportunity to experiment and
create music easily. It also lets students create colourful
visual patterns as in this image. To explore the many
music tools available go to:
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/
Greg Sheehan (Music Teacher)
Senior Secondary Art
Artwork by Reece.
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Northern Campus meet and greet BBQ
Northern Activity Day Report
Earlier this term, the Tasmanian eSchool held an Activity Day up at the Northern Campus. Some of the activities, but
not limited to were; 3D printing, cooking, drawing/colouring, cricket and other various outdoor games. In addition to
the activities, a generous barbeque lunch was provided alongside some sweet treats baked by the students during the
cooking activity led by Fiona Phillips. The friendly atmosphere of the day was very memorable. I feel so grateful to be a
part of such an affable school, who treat each other not just as students and peers but like one big family. If you’re
thinking of attending an Activity Day but are a little nervous, I would strongly encourage you to. I’m certain you will
leave with a new friend or two. On the behalf of the students I would like to thank all the staff at Tasmanian eSchool
who helped make this, and many other fantastic Activity Days possible throughout the year.
By Amy
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Southern Activity Day – Legacy Park
Despite the chilly conditions staff, students and families had a very enjoyable day at Legacy Park on the Domain. The
event was an opportunity to get together for the first time this year in what was a beautiful and relaxed environment. It
was terrific to see our continuing students join us at the event and it was particularly exciting to meet some of our new
students and their families.
Students had an opportunity to explore the varied playground installations and participate in a group treasure hunt
around the park. The highlight of the day as confirmed by the students was pizza making. Students created their own
pizza using a choice of various ingredients which were then cooked in a wood fired pizza oven. The oven was fired up
the day before to ensure it reached the required temperature. The pizzas were definitely scrumptious! Some students
even went back for seconds. In the afternoon students had the opportunity to walk along the Legacy Memorial Park
which was established in memory of our WW1 soldiers.
It is always a delight to see our students joining in the fun and reacquainting themselves with their class mates and
teachers in a face to face environment and also making new friends. We look forward to seeing our students again at
our next state-wide activity day on March 30.
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Parent Information
Northern Campus upgrade
I am pleased to advise that at the end of last year, the
Asset Strategy Steering Committee (ASSC) of the
Department approved the capital request of the
Tasmanian eSchool (North) to assist with the
introduction of the Later Finishing Age. The project is
well underway with the total cost of delivering this
project estimated at $1.220 million. It will be anticipated
that the project will commence in July with a
completion date of December 2020. Staff of the
Northern Campus and members of the School
Association were invited to join the consultation phase
of the project. If you would like to view the plan, it is
available from the Northern Campus office.
Authorised Absence
Did you know?
Attending school every day has a big impact on how
well your child goes at school. Attendance has a
positive impact on students’ learning. Because of this,
the new Education Act specifies the reasons a child can
be authorised not to attend school.
It is important that you discuss why your child is absent
from school with your child’s Pastoral Care Teacher as
soon as practicable.
Why is this change important?
The changes to being authorised not to attend school
will help address absenteeism, which has been a
longstanding issue in Tasmania.
These changes:
Encourage regular school attendance to help
your child to make steady progress with their
learning and gain the skills and knowledge needed for success both now and later in life.
Help your child see themselves as a valuable and
enthusiastic member of their classroom with
high expectations of their own potential.
Help you to emphasise to your child the value
and importance of their education.
Ensure there is a consistent state-wide approach to authorised absences across all
Tasmanian schools.
When can my child be authorised not to attend
school?
Reasons your child can be authorised to be absent
include:
sickness/incapacity
medical, legal or related appointments
natural disaster or extreme weather preventing
your child from safely attending their enrolled
school
terminal illness of an immediate family member
bereavement of a person your child had a close,
significant or family relationship with
having witnessed or been subjected to family
violence
being a participant or official at a recognised
State, National or International event
participating in a recognised learning experience
an application for home education being
received by the Education Registrar and
provisional registration being granted.
What will happen if my child is absent for a
reason that isn’t listed?
The absence will be recorded as an unauthorised
absence.
Principals receive notifications about the number of
unauthorised absences your child has.
Your child’s school may send you a letter notifying you
of the number of unauthorised absences your child has.
They will seek to work with you to increase your
child’s attendance to maximise their learning if the
Principal is concerned about your child’s attendance.
What happens if my family go on holiday during
school term?
Schools have always encouraged family holidays
to be planned for during the scheduled school
holiday breaks.
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If your family decides to take a holiday during
school term, you are encouraged to discuss
your plans with the Principal or your child’s
teacher.
Penalties will not apply if an absence is
explained.
Setting up for Success
Creating a calm and orderly learning environment is
one of the most important preconditions to learning.
To set your child up for a successful lesson, deliberate
attention to creating an environment which will
optimise learning is important. Having a workspace that
is a part of the main living area is a good idea so that
parents/carers can recognise when they might be
experiencing difficulties. This is also important so that
parents know what their chid is doing online during
class time and they are focussed on the learning.
To avoid household distractions we recommend that
students wear headphones.
What else can I do to ensure my child has every
opportunity to learn?
Ensure that the work area has access to a
computer and telephone
Try to keep the area quiet whilst lessons are on
Keep pencils, paper and workbooks nearby
Display the timetable for everyone in the family
to see
Have a clock nearby to keep track of any
breaks or start times to classes.
Use the chat available in lessons to talk about
learning and seek clarification when unsure.
If your child experiences any difficulties accessing the
lesson please call the school immediately so that we
may help you.
Our Community
Annual General Meeting
Members of our eSchool Community are warmly
invited to attend our Annual General Meeting
(AGM) 7 April 2020 at the Northern Campus of
Tasmanian eSchool.
An afternoon tea will commence at 3.45pm followed by the meeting at 4. 15 pm – 5.15 pm via SKYPE at the Northern Campus of Tasmanian eSchool.
At the AGM we be electing new committee members to the Association. We would love to have you on our team, so please nominate to become a member.
Positions for nomination are:
• Chair
• Vice Chair
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Two staff members
If you would like to become a member or elect for a position on the Association, please fill in the nomination form below and return by no later than Wednesday 1 April. Nominations can be:
emailed to [email protected]
or
mailed to either Campus OR
dropped in to the Front Office of either
Campus.
Tasmanian eSchool Association AGM
Committee Nomination form
I _____________________________________
nominate ______________________________
to be a member of the Tasmanian eSchool
Association
Committee.
Signed (Nominator): _______________________
Seconded (Name): ________________________
I agree to be nominated as a Committee Member.
Signed: _________________________________
Date: __________________________________
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Lego Competition
Tasmanian eSchool Lego Competition
When: Monday 30 March, Campbell Town
Activity Day
How: 1. Build your own Lego creation.
2. Bring your Lego design along to the
Campbell Town Recreation Centre to
display.
3. Complete the entry form.
Contact Jacci Cruse for more information.
Rules:
Lego display to be no larger than 52cm x 52cm
x 52cm, or no larger than four 32x32 lug Lego
baseplates.
Each Lego display must be an original or
freelance design and not made from a Lego kit.
Some adult help is allowed but the Lego design
should mainly be the child’s own design.
Please do not put any precious Lego pieces on your
design.
Health and Wellbeing News
2020 Wellbeing Survey
This month all DoE students from Years 4 to 12 have
the opportunity to participate in a state-wide online
well-being survey. Your child’s wellbeing matters to us
and the results of the survey will help our school to
better understand how to support every one of our
students into the future. Detailed information about the
survey has either been emailed to parents or posted in
the mail. Please take the time to read the information
and view the
DoE video
clip on our
page for more
information.
Student Wellbeing Hub
Safe Internet Day
Safe Internet Day was on Tuesday 11th February. It is a
worldwide day to raise awareness about online safety
and encourages everyone to create a better internet for
everyone.
The Primary and Secondary Digital Technologies classes
participated in a range of activities around being safe
online.
The Year 7/8 classes discussed their top tips that they
would give to someone new to using the internet.
Their tips include:
Don’t share personal
information.
Be aware of people
who might be
pretending to be
someone else.
Don’t click on odd
looking emails.
Report
inappropriate
messages to an adult you trust.
No swearing.
No bullying.
Student ‘Drop In’
The Student ‘Drop In’ centre is available to all students
during term time. In the holidays we encourage
students needing support to contact the following
organisations:
Headspace 1800 650 908 or online chat via
www.headspace.org.au
Kids Helpline 1800 551 800 or online chat via
www.kidshelpline.com.au
Lifeline phone 13 11 14 or text support 0477 13 11 14
(6pm-midnight)
QLife LGBTIQA+ support 1800 184 527
Useful apps for tough times – Beyond Now (suicidal
thoughts and self-harm support)
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Smiling Mind (mindfulness meditations)
Niggle (wellbeing and mental health support)
More tools and apps can be found at:
https://au.reachout.com/tools-and-apps
Library
Library Fact!
There’s a
Magician’s Library
in New York
A non-profit
organisation, its
primary role is as a
library for books on magic and related arts such as
hypnosis, ventriloquism, juggling and sleight of hand.
To access eBooks by logging into the Library page via
your Canvas Dashboard page:
If you have forgotten your library details just contact your teacher or the library staff.
Some of the great new titles in the eLibrary:
Northern Campus – Monica Sigtenhorst ph. 6323 8906
Southern Campus - Felecia Phillips ph. 6282 8104
SRC
Tasmanian eSchool Student Council
Are you interested in making a difference to the
eSchool student experience and gaining some valuable
skills while doing it?
You can represent your fellow students by joining the
eSchool SRC
Please send an email to your SRC teacher Jess Wilson
at
Please include the following:
Your name
Year
Your reason for joining SRC
SRC meetings will occur fortnightly on a Wednesday at
3pm.
The next meeting is scheduled for the 25th March.
Southern Campus
PO Box 171, Rosny Park, TAS 7018 Australia
Elmsleigh Road, Derwent Park TAS 7009 Australia
Ph (03) 6282 8181
Northern Campus
PO Box 22, Mowbray, TAS 7248 Australia
215 George Town Road, Rocherlea TAS 7248
Australia
Ph (03) 6323 8999
Email [email protected]
Web www.tasmanianeschool.tas.edu.au
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