Montrose Bay High School Newsletter - Term 1 Week 5

Message from the Principal

The beginning of the 2024 school year has been full of success at Montrose Bay High School. Students have been engaged across the first half of term and goal setting and routines have been important parts of this work. Students are encouraged by the focus on teaching and learning with alternate programs being provided to those students with alternate learning needs. New staff have adapted successfully and are beginning to form relationships with students and getting to know them. Our elective subjects in Year 9 and 10 are well underway with some positive outcomes ensuring students are following their interests and passions.

Our updated policy around uniform has been well received by students and walking around the school it is great to see the consistent nature and school pride in our uniform. We continue to support students with our class exits and late to class policies. I would like to acknowledge the support of parents and carers across the first 5 weeks of school, teachers have really appreciated the communication and positive nature of calls.
     
Year 7 Camp
All of our Year 7 students will shortly receive information around our term 2 camp. Staff are hard at work in the background organising logistics and ensuring everything is ready to go for a successful experience for all involved. We are super excited to be adding this experience for our students after a lengthy absence due to COVID and other barriers.     

NAPLAN
Next week will see the beginning of our NAPLAN testing period for students in Year 7 and 9. Thank you to our teaching and learning team for organising the logistics of this period and support of staff and students to complete it. We encourage students to focus on sleep and good nutrition during this period to ensure they set themselves up for success. Students will participate in reading, writing, spelling, and numeracy across the 2 weeks. If students are absent or miss tests there will be opportunities for catch ups.

Positive Behaviour Support
Students across the school continue to be encouraged to reflect our Montrose Mindset which currently contains our 4 values of Respect, Aspiration, Courage, and Growth. Shortly our school will undergo a process to update our values to reflect new DECYP values, which means the removal of Aspiration and the inclusion of Connection and Responsibility. If students are reflecting these values in their everyday school life, they are rewarded by receiving DoJo points from adults across the school. These points are collated and put into raffle draws at Year assemblies. If student’s names are selected, they can receive prizes like canteen vouchers, experiences and other items.

School Association
On Tuesday 19 March at 5.00pm we will hold our Annual General Meeting for our School Association. I would encourage any community members to come along and support this group and help shape our school moving forward. It is vital that we receive feedback from our community in a variety of ways to ensure future planning is meeting the needs of our students. Please contact the office if you would like to attend so we can have appropriate catering.

Tim Nicholas
Principal

School Association-Montrose Bay High

Parents, guardians, and caregivers...have you ever wondered how your kids' school operates behind the scenes, how big decisions are arrived at, or how to make suggestions that you know will be heard? You can have both your ear to the ground and your voice heard if you come along to the Montrose Bay High School Association meetings. We meet once a term to discuss big picture matters and to raise issues that concern the study body - your young people - so, please feel welcome to come along.

The first meeting for the year (our AGM) is Tuesday March 19, from 5pm-6pm, at the school. If you would like to attend, please call the school on 6208 2666.

Zoe Smith - parent member
On behalf of the School Association

Year 7

Welcome Parents/Guardians of Year 7 Students, 

What an exciting start it has been to 2024. We have welcomed 150 new faces into the Year 7 space and are beginning to get to know each other and how a high school works. We enjoyed meeting new families at the Welcome BBQ and look forward to meeting more as the year continues.   

At Montrose Bay HS, we believe that education is a partnership between parents, students, and teachers. As your child enters year seven, we are excited to foster a collaborative and supportive environment that will nurture their growth and development. We have 6 homeroom classes in Year 7 each allocated a Homeroom Teacher who is your first point of contact, 7A Tom Waller, 7B Mel Wakeling, 7C Rod Pontes, 7D Abby Stacey, 7E Patrick McLean, 7F Tavish Patterson. They are supported by 7 other teachers that deliver core subjects and specialty subjects. At a leadership level in Year 7, we have two Assistant Principals Frankie Hey (Mon-Wed-Thurs) and Jack Young (Tues-Fri), and two Advanced Skilled Teachers David Watkins and Juliet Payne that work as a team to support staff and students.  

Throughout the school year, you can expect regular communication from teachers and staff, keeping you informed about your child's progress, upcoming events, and important school updates. We encourage you to actively participate in your child's education by attending parent-teacher conferences, school events, and engaging in conversations with your child about their experiences. If you would like to be a part of our School Association, please see above in the newsletter about our upcoming meeting.  

At Montrose, we have various initiatives in place to promote positive behaviour, strong character, and a sense of belonging. Our goal is to create a space where each student feels valued, respected, and empowered to reach their full potential. In the coming weeks, there will be more information coming out about the enrichment and intervention programs that many of our Year 7 students will be offered. We use Dojo at school to track and reward positive behaviours. Students have opportunities to receive rewards throughout the term and at the end of each term we have an overall celebration of our top Dojo winners. This term our focus for Wellbeing is Courage. We have identified that we as Year 7s are going to try and be more courageous by stepping out of our comfort zone and including others. This can be a hard social skill to develop, however essential in the beginning stages of high school as we all go through this period of change. We encourage families to talk with their young person about how they felt at the start of Year 7 and that putting yourself out there for new opportunities and meeting new people can have wonderful outcomes.  

We are enthusiastic about the possibilities that lie ahead and look forward to working with you in shaping a successful year for your child.  

Welcome to Montrose! 

Frankie Hey
Year 7 Assistant Principal

Year 8

We've had a productive start to Term 1 in Year 8. Here's a look at what our students have covered in Maths, Science, and HASS during the first five weeks.

Year 8 Maths Integers 
“Learning about integers (positive and negative) numbers. How to add, subtract, multiple and divide integers. I like maths and that there are so many ways you can use numbers. To solve integers we use the formulas of -
positive + positive = positive 
negative x negative = positive”.  Toby

“In Year 8 Maths we have been focusing on integers. We have made a laminated number line, “cheat sheet” displays to use during class, and participated in outside maths to engage in our learning in various ways. In the last few weeks, we have made a progressive stride on how we multiply, divide, add, and subtract positive and negative integers. Most recently we have focused on how we use squared, square roots with integer, and most importantly “BIDMAS” or order of operations.” Sangkalpa

Year 8 HASS – Vikings 
Students had the opportunity to research and learn about Viking gods and their society. They have just completed their first assessment task, which was to create a Facebook profile for their chosen Viking god.

Year 8 Science – Chemistry 
Students have had the opportunity to engage in science experiments in the lab and practice their lab safety skills. We are continuing to develop their scientific inquiry skills. They have recently conducted a lesson in the science lab, making the non-Newtonian fluid called 'oobleck.'

Chantel Barnes
Year 8 Assistant Principal

EdSmart

Our School recently switched over to a new messaging platform, EdSmart, for communicating with you.   This will replace our current text messaging system.

The new platform, called EdSmart, is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging, including SMS and emails. It will mainly be used to manage absences and other messaging for phase one of the project.

Here's how it will work for absentee notifications and responses:
If your child is absent from school, and we have not received an explanation from a recorded contact, you will be sent an email or SMS with a link to click that opens an absentee response form. Simply complete the form and submit. These links can be accessed on your phone, tablet or computer at your convenience.

There are several ways to advise a student's absence. You can -
•    complete the Absentee Notification via the Schoolzine app
•    email to montrose.bay.high@decyp.tas.gov.au
•    call the school on 6208 2699
•    reply to the EdSmart text message by following the link and submitting the completed form.

The EdSmart platform will eventually provide the school with a new mobile number for you to advise absences or other issues. At this stage you may only respond to EdSmart messages and cannot initiate your own contact. We will advise parents as soon as new functions become available.

Student Health

Dates to Remember