TAS Talks Term 2 Week 8

The Mission Australia Youth Survey annually surveys young people between the ages of 15 and 19 about the things that concern them, both personally and nationally https://bit.ly/2S9QFVM Unsurprisingly, last year COVID-19 topped the list of national concerns. It was closely followed by the environment with 38% of young people surveyed noting this as a significant issue for them. TAS students are represented in this survey as they do take part, but we also know through conversations that they too are worried about the environment. It goes without saying that TAS will abide by the 1 June ban on single-use plastic bags and further plastic bans due in November. The School will also be working to minimise all single-use plastic (water bottles, bin liners etc) and to place a greater emphasis on recycling and appropriate waste disposal. This will be an ongoing process as we build towards becoming a more environmentally conscious school.

This week is also National Blood Donor week which students have chosen to fundraise for on Friday by wearing red on a mufti day. One in three people will require donated blood throughout their life, but only one in thirty currently give blood themselves. All eligible students, staff and family members are encouraged to roll up their sleeves, do something that could save someone’s life and donate! In good news for those of us who have not been allowed to donate due to time spent in the UK, regulations around this are also changing a little later this year.

Dr Rachel Horton
Principal

As per Dr Horton’s article, the Student Representative Council has performed an outstanding role in highlighting the importance of National Blood Donors Week to the student body and community this week. In addition to the mufti-day being held on Friday, all members of our community who are eligible are encouraged to donate blood. If you are eligible and have not donated before, you can register via the following link https://don8blood.com/3b3ztjB

When donating, please let your local Lifeblood Donor Centre know that you are a member of The Armidale School (TAS) Lifeblood Team. 

In what has been an excellent year to date, all students have been provided with a consistent message this week to finish the term strongly and to continue to build on the achievements obtained in their academic and co-curricular endeavours. In addition, it is equally important that effort is directed to the relationships students have established with their peers and the staff. As fatigue sets in and the holiday approaches, maintaining these relationships through positive choices and conscious effort up to the final day of term is important for the second half of the year.

A reminder that our travel day for boarding students is next Friday 24 June. Normal classes will run up until 3:30pm on Thursday 23 June and we do ask that students do not depart early, wherever possible, to ensure our lessons can run without disruption.

Mr Ray Pearson
Deputy Principal

End of Term Meet Up

I hope everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the June long weekend with family. With the end of Term 2 being so close, keep an eye out for messages from your Year-Group Liaison Parents for details of end of term meet-ups. These are always a great opportunity to connect with families from your Year-Group.

Wallabies Jersey Raffle

Tickets in the Wallabies jersey raffles are still available for purchase. and we encourage you to purchase your tickets now before the end of rugby season. This is a 2012 Australian Wallabies Rugby Jersey signed by the team and coach and is a collectors item being the 10th anniversary from the season. The Spring Tour was played during November and December in France (Stade de France), England (Twickenham), Italy (Stade Artemio), and Wales (Millenium Stadium).

If you would like to purchase a ticket for $5 each, please visit Wallabies Raffle Tickets.

The raffle will be drawn in September 2022 at the end of the season with proceeds to the TAS P&F and ultimately back to the students.

Mr Paul Gaddes
P&F President

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks with virtual Round Square experiences connecting TAS students with people across the globe.

On 31 May several Senior students participated in a very late 3-hour Virtual Round Square Conference on AI and Democracy. Hosted by Join Belgrano Day School in Argentina, they posed the following question: “How will AI change kids’ and teenagers’ ways of learning and living?”. Through different activities, guest speakers, and discussions the students reflected on, and imagined, future scenarios for life, education, and work in a society transformed by an increasing digital integration.

Academic updates

Year 12

It was lovely connecting with so many families last week via Zoom to discuss University applications and the upcoming Trial HSC exams. We have since spoken with students regarding managing major works in the final run to completion and I encourage families to ask their children about this.

The Trial HSC exam timetable will be available to students and families next week.

Year 11

A reminder that end-of-course exams are scheduled for week 9 next term with Yr 12 officially starting in Week 4 of Term 4. No student will be able to change their pattern of subjects before that time.

Year 9/10

Elective choices for Semester 2 are now with students and choices are due by this Friday 17 June. Students have received an email enabling them to access their online elective subject choices.

Year 11, 2023 Information Session

Families of our current Year 10 students will receive an invitation to attend a Year 11, 2023 Information Session between 4.00-6.00pm on Monday 18 July (the day boarders return for Term 3). The afternoon will involve a presentation from Mr Taylor and myself, as well as an opportunity to speak with teachers regarding subject selections for Year 11. Families will receive a link to the subject offering book before these upcoming holidays so that they can start considering options. The formal presentation will be filmed for future access for those who cannot make it and conversations able to be had during Term 3 to ensure that subject selections are right for your child.

Mrs Seonia Wark
Director of Studies

This week in Assembly we celebrated the achievements of our Equestrian team, who performed exceptionally well at the North West Equestrian Expo. Similarly, a significant number of our students performed with distinction at the Shakespeare Carnival in Sydney last week. The depth and breadth of our student engagement and involvement in a range of activities at TAS is pleasing to say the least. Performances from Clare Wilkinson – who performed ‘Everything I Wanted’ by Billie Eilish and a Drama Performance Duologue by Meave Churchyard and Felicity Barton, were highlights of the Assembly. These performances not only remind us of the exceptional talent we have at TAS across the Performing Arts and Music, but the amazing courage and conviction many of our students exhibit on a weekly basis.

As we move towards the end of term, I spoke to the students in Assembly about finishing the term well. It is important, as we navigate illness, the cold and a busy term 2, that we work hard to maintain positive relationships, ensure we complete all necessary work and assessments, make the most of our opportunities and wear our uniform well. Enjoy the final weeks and let our actions speak louder than our words.

Results from the North West Equestrian Expo

Mr Huon Barrett
Director of Co-curricular

COONA EXPO

Last week the TAS Equestrian Team returned home after a successful five days at the Coonabarabran Equestrian Expo. With a 22-strong team of riders, our students competed in 14 different events with some exceptional results as outlined in the above Co-Curricular report. Most notably, TAS took home Best Presented Large School which was judged on the final day’s presentation and parade. This was led by our fearless Team Captain, Mary Flannery.

There were several highlights of the competition including Charlie Ward’s winning Pentathlon and One Day Event runs, the TAS polocrosse team’s B grade win, Brooke Tudor’s champion Galloway hack and Charlie Pease’s round in the 6-bar final (standing at 1.40m).  We were even lucky enough to be visited by Dr Horton and Mr Barrett who drove the 4 hours and braved the bitter conditions.

An enormous thank you must go to Bernadette Phelps, our camp mother and all-round wonder woman, without whose organisation and management would have left us hungry and cold! I would also like to recognise Miriam Henry for her expertise and generosity in preparing and organising our horses and riders.

Lastly, a hearty congratulations and thanks to Sarah and Mary Flannery, our Team Manager and Team Captain. Sarah’s diligence in the lead-up to the Expo meant that our team was well-prepared and correctly entered in all events. Mary presented outstanding sportsmanship, maintained a high level of spirit within the team, and displayed exemplary leadership in trying conditions.

As a first-time MIC, I was blown away by the comradery of the students and the generosity of the parents. I was genuinely proud to be wearing the TAS colours and I would like to thank everyone that made this event so pleasurable and successful.

Miss Charlotte Low

If you visit the Hoskins Centre you’ll see that the behemoth that is Les Miserables has bumped into the space. This beloved musical is being directed by our very own Mr Michael Cornford and stars several TAS students and parents. They have three weeks of shows over the school holiday break and I encourage everyone in town to grab a ticket as it promises to be a blockbuster show  https://www.adms.org.au/

Mr Andrew O’Connell
Head of Creative Arts

Open Classrooms – Junior School Open Morning, Thursday 16 June

Thank you to all our current and prospective parents who have let us know that they will be with us on 16 June from 9.30 – 11.00 am. We are very excited! This opportunity has been a long time coming and we hope you will be able to join us in our classrooms and experience first-hand that which our students experience. Dr Horton, Veronica Waters and I will be on hand to speak to you over morning tea and answer any questions you may have about our program.

Please contact the school for further information if required and we do hope you will be able to come along and join us.

SHREK Jnr – The Musical

At last, now we are emerging from the COVID cloud, we are heading back to the stage and the details for our End of Year Production will have been emailed to you. It is very exciting to have the chance to perform again and we hope that we will be returning to a similar style of production that we have been able to achieve so successfully in years gone by. Included in the mailout, was information relating to auditions, after school rehearsals and working bees. Please make yourself familiar with this and contact the school if you would like to know more. As more details emerge, we will keep you well-informed.

Australian Red Cross Fundraiser – Wear It Red Mufti Day

This Friday, we are joining the rest of the school in a fundraiser for the Red Cross. The idea is to support Blood Donors’ Week by not wearing our school uniform but something “RED” instead and bringing a gold coin donation. We are happy to able to support the rest of the school as they have supported us in the past and strongly encourage all our students to participate.

COVID in Junior School

Please be aware that we do continue to have cases of COVID-19 circulating in our community. We anticipate that there will be a steady number of cases circulating, so it is important that everyone is following the protocols that are in place for the safety and wellbeing of all of our students and staff.

• Students and staff must not attend school if they display any COVID-like symptoms, even if they return a negative RAHT.
• Parents and carers must inform the school as soon as possible if their child/children test positive or if they are required to follow the current guidelines as a Household contact.
• Isolation times for positive cases or guidelines for Household contacts are currently mandated by the NSW Government and can be found here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/stay-safe/testing/self-isolation-rules

If you have any questions or concerns at any stage, please do not hesitate to contact me.

School Spirit Awards

Congratulations to the following students that received School Spirit Awards last week:

Eric Thakur, Henry Post, Riley Sykes, Aarik Chakraborty, Uday Grewal, George Quast, Scarlett Shortt, Kieran Ahern, Finley Boyce, Mason Grace-Booth, Casey Tighe, Eli Williams, Xander Dell, Rupert Newton, Katie Flynn, Mila Nexo, Tom Loxley and Pippi Goudge.

Mr Ian Lloyd
Head of Junior School

Upcoming Events

All our units of inquiry and programmes are informed by assessment and at this time of the semester our staff are reflecting upon our students’ development of knowledge, conceptual understandings, and skills. Teachers gather and analyse student learning and identify what students know, understand, and can do at different stages in the learning process. This information is then transferred to an individual student report, which our families will receive via the post over the holiday break.

Our Assessment Policy states that the characteristics of effective assessment can be demonstrated by the following characteristics:

• Authentic- allows for connection to be made to the real world.
• Clear and specific- implementation of learning goals, success criteria and processes.
• Varied-a range of tools and strategies.
• Developmental- focuses on an individual student’s progress not that of others.
• Collaborative- engages students in the assessment development and evaluation process.
• Interactive- assessment involves discussion about learning.
• Feedback to feedforward- provides feedback on current learning to inform what is needed to support future learning. (Hattie, Timperley 2007)

Assessment is used to inform learning and teaching and at TAS Junior School we view assessment as having four dimensions.

Mrs Veronica Waters
PYP Coordinator