Dear Families, 

Our staff work tirelessly to ensure the very best opportunities for our students throughout the year as being a student at Launceston Big Picture School isn’t just about the learning that takes place in our classrooms every day. We aim to provide the most varied and engaging opportunities we can for all our students. We do this through a variety of ways, not the least being the many and varied experiences we offer our students. Daily, I see our young people working on their inquiry projects in places like our kitchen, workshop, maker space or art pod. Our Learning Through Interest program also provides enormous variety and authenticity about real world learning.

Recently I have been fortunate to sit in on several student exhibitions. The quality of these student lead presentations always continues to amaze me! To see “firsthand” our young people enthusiastically and passionately engaged in the learning process is a true strength of the Big Picture Learning Design. Answering questions from panel members, being able to further elaborate on particularly aspects of projects and sharing authentic links between their learning at school and through Internship opportunities were common elements of all exhibitions.

In addition to exhibitions, all students will receive formal mid-year reports at the end of term. As always, if you would like to discuss anything regarding your child’s report, please email your child’s advisory teacher.

Staffing News 

I would like to recognise and thank Leanne Wickham for her contribution to our school. Leanne joined our school in mid-2022, previously having worked at Deloraine High School. Leanne has been a positive and enthusiastic member of our teaching team, always being prepared to go above and beyond for her students. The students at Deloraine High School are very fortunate that Leanne has decided to purchase a house and return to settle in Deloraine!

I would like to announce that Chelsea Waller will be replacing Leanne on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Brock Kerslake will take the Grade 10A Advisory Class on Tuesday’s. Welcome Chelsea!

Attendance Is Important- Every day matters!

As a school we continue to encourage our young people to attend school every day. Students set attendance and wellbeing goals and review these in weekly catch-up conversations with Advisory teachers. At the end of each term, those students with an individual attendance percentage of 80% or above, can experience a free lunch and drinks at school. I am very pleased to announce the following attendance information:

• 28% of our students have a current attendance of 90% or above
• 55% of our students have a current attendance of 80% or above
• 76.5% of our students currently have a higher attendance % than what they did in 2022

I would like to to contgratulate and acknowledge Rick Church and Armon Castor who currently have a 100% attendance for the first half of the year.

Our student leaders have also instigated a class vs class attendance competition with the leading class being rewarded with a movie afternoon- competition has been very close as you can see with the leader board below.

We recently held the first of our Family Information sessions for 2023. It was great to have lots of families in attendance, asking questions and participating in tours of our fantastic facilities and learning spaces. To be able to share our learning design more broadly is always a positive but listening to our current students answer questions from visitors and share their experiences at our school is always a highlight.

Outlearning Opportunities

We are very lucky to have a fantastic Learning Through Interest coordinator- Mel Van Asperen! Mel has been working hard to ensure that our students are aware of the many and varied learning opportunities that exist beyond our school building. Many students now have a Learning Through Interest (LTI) placements organised and established ready to go for term 3. Please remember that, participating in an LTI is a key part of our learning design. Those students who do not have a placement, are strongly encouraged to seek an opportunity as a matter of urgency.

Reading

Reading is one of the Big Commitments in the Big Picture Learning design and a key priority in our School Improvement Plan. We are continually looking for ways of enhancing not only the reading abilities of our students but also the amount of reading our students engage with. Just recently all our Advisory classes have visited Petrarch’s Bookshop to purchase personalised reading material.

Classes were each allocated $400 each to spend- the excitement was evident with students eagerly and quickly wanting to cover their new purchases so as they could commence reading them. As a school we would like our students to engage with a minimum of 120 minutes of reading per week.Reading material can be wide and varied- hard copy books, online, magazines etc. Please continue to encourage your child to regularly engage with reading.

Student Free Day- 1st day of term 3 (Monday 24^th July)

Monday the 24^th of July is a student free day for all students (9-12). Our staff will be participating in professional learning aimed at increasing our capacity and understanding of all aspects of Mental Health.

 Our Newsletter

Thank you to those people who have signed up to receive an electronic copy of our newsletter! I certainly hope that you enjoy reading it! If you haven’t subscribed please use the link below to do so:

If are involved in a community organisation and would like to advertise in our newsletter, please contact our office. Where possible, we will be happy to assist.

I hope you all enjoy a relaxing holiday period with family and friends. I look forward to seeing everyone at term 3 Learning Plan meetings.

Adrian Dean
Principal

We want your help for our Learning Through Interest Program!

Launceston Big Picture School appreciate the support of the following businesses, who have offered a Learning Through Interest placement.

If you are a local business and have opportunities for students to engage in your industry, please contact Mel at melanie.van.asperen@decyp.tas.gov.au

Mel Van Asperen
LTI Co-ordinator

Hope Cafe 

Year 10 student Tom's, Learning Through Internship placement is at Hope Café,  located in St John Street. Tom’s passion for coffee began in 2022 at school in Friday Coffee Club.  Tom would walk into our office and Advisory rooms taking hot chocolate and coffee orders for recess time.  As Tom developed further confidence and skills, he participated in Shadow Days at The Boat House Café.  Isaac and Dan from The Boat House Café mentored and supported Tom by teaching and broadening his customer service in a busy real-world café. Isaac and Dan provide extremely great customer service by knowing their client names and barista skills.  During Term 2, Tom’s hospitality skills consist of serving customers, clearing tables, cleaning the kitchen and taste testing an arrangement of sweets on display.  Thank you to Tanya, Tom and the team at Hope Café. If you have a chance to visit Tom on a Tuesday, try a Harry Potter Butterbeer soda drink.

Rock Climbing - PCYC

Ciara is a year 9 student interested in the fitness industry. Currently she is training on a regular basis to improve her weightlifting strength.  From this passion, Ciara is exploring a range of fitness classes by attending a Learning Through Internship placement at PCYC. Ciara begins her day by working on reception with Nat, greeting seniors who use the gym or attend a group class.  Recently Ciara assisted in setting up the rock climbing wall for a school group and organising the gymnastic area for kinder gym.  

Craft Market

We have some very creative students who have been making products to sell in the upcoming school market in Term 3. Lots of creativity has been happening amongst the group. Bottle top magnets, sensory rice bags and bookmarks are what have been created so far.

Pride Month

On the 16^th of June, a group in 10A held a pride celebration event to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and bring the school together. The event began with a speech from Ally before students interacted with a range of stalls. There were baked goods, jewellery and badges for sale, along with a community art banner and games for everyone to enjoy. This event was a huge success, with the team raising over $200 for charity. A big thanks to Sarah, Grace, Sam, Ash, Holly and Amy for the organisation of the event and the Grade 9’s for their badges and support.  

Sarah Donovan
10A Advisory 

QVMAG Visit

Some of our students have been exploring two new exhibitions at the QVMAG at Inveresk. Australia in Space explores how Australian innovations are used in space with lots of interactive exhibits, while the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit celebrates the Natural History Museum of London’s annual competition. We highly recommend you take the chance to see these exhibits – we had fun!

Magistate Court Visit

As part of our Leaving School Project, students in year 11 were given the opportunity to visit the Magistrates Court in Launceston. We sat in on a court session and learned a lot about the process of appearing in court and court procedures.

Tasmania Zoo

On Wednesday the 7^th of June, a group of 30 Grade 9 and 10 students from Launceston Big Picture School visited Tasmania Zoo.  They participated in zookeeper talks, finding out about animals like the Tasmanian Devils.  They were able to feed the emus, donkeys, lambs, chickens and kangaroos.  The emus freaked out a few people as they were quite aggressive.  Students enjoyed having some time to explore all areas of the Zoo.  It was a fabulous day and we would like to thank Jake and Noah from 10A for organising the excursion.

Leanne Wickham 
10A Advisory

10C Student Exhibitions

It has been a busy time in 10C with Exhibitions.   From the Economics of WWIII, the history of cake decorating, Tasmania Police, readability in video games, Summernats, pirates, coding and lots of other cool topics in between. It has been a busy and creative Term 2.

Youth Climate Leader Conference

On 8^th June 13 students participated in the Youth Climate Leaders conference that was held at the University of Tasmania, Newnham Campus. Participants will now be able to engage in a social action project that will involve planning a climate change action in our local community. Students heard from scientists and specialists in sustainability and worked with mentors to learn new skills that they will be able to apply to their project.

Art & Craft

Empirical Reasoning was a learning goal recently explored by some of our very creative students. They made homemade playdough and investigated measurement, texture, colour and scent. Results were blue fairy floss playdough, blue salted caramel playdough and green playdough.

Cassie - “I enjoyed putting the scent in and adding colour until the result was something I was happy with”.

Alissia – “ I found kneading the playdough and getting an even colour result was my favourite thing to do”.

Abbie– “Mixing the colour into the playdough was great sensory play”.

Food & Cooking

On Friday 23^rd June we hosted our first ever Grandparents Luncheon. Our Cafe Red team catered for the event and were simply outstanding!

Design & Technology 

The workshop continues to be an exciting place for many students. Lots of interesting designs are being worked through and it is exciting to see individual projects being completed.

Sport & Rec

Interested students continue to explore recreational opportunities in and around Launceston. Recently we went tenpin bowling.

Jewellery Flexible Learning Group

We have been exploring our creativity in jewellery class. Throughout the term, we have been making items for a maker’s market next term. There has been a growing interest in jewellery making, with many of our group growing in confidence and purchasing their own materials to continue their creations in their own time.

Mel Tyson
Teacher Assistant

Aspiration, Courage, Respect, Growth

We are always looking for ways of rewarding positive behaviour at our school.

Students and staff are encouraged to nominate those people who have shown Aspiration, Courage, Respect or Growth.

Winners receive a voucher to dine at Cafe Red and our winners this term so far are:

• Ruby Meessen: Growth - Coming to school every day through the week
• Charlotte Hindrum: Growth and Courage - For getting into her Tafe course
• Astryd Cooper: Courage and Growth - For taking on reception and phones in the office to help out.

FACEBOOK POSTS 

As always, please remember that when engaging with any Department of Education page, to do so in a respectful manner, in line with our Terms of Use which can be found in the ‘about’ section of our page.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Please ensure your student keeps their school polo top in their bag or keeps it safe in their Advisory room at all times.

It is compulsory for students to wear their school uniform when attending school excursions, interviews, LTIs or if they are representing the school at events. 

Uniforms can be purchased from the school office and are sold at cost price:

• Polo Shirts with school logo = $30 
• School Hoody with school logo = $65

Any pre-worn uniform donations would be very much appreciated and are used in our emergency uniform/clothing pool.

PARKING  

It is highly recommended that parents and visitors to the school DO NOT PARK along the nature strip in front of the school, along the footpath or on the grass area beside UTas Stadium.

The City Council have recently approached the school and have informed staff that this area is being patrolled and $86.00 infringements are being issued.

Parents and visitors are advised to use the paid parking facilities at the Inveresk Car Park (next to Blue Cafe).

COMMUNICATION & USEFUL LINKS

I would like to remind families of some useful links and apps that you may use to assist with receiving communication from our school.

• SMS Only - 0427 016 460 to report student absences, please send a text to our short message service
• Schoolzine App & Newsletter - Our newsletter is published at the end of every month through Schoolzine. Schoolzine is an app that allows you to communicate with the school, receive notices and newsletters

2023 Student Leaders 

2023 Support Staff 

Our Newsletter

Thank you to those people who have signed up to receive an electronic copy of our newsletter! I certainly hope that you enjoy reading it!

If you haven’t subscribed please use the link below to do so:

If are involved in a community organisation and would like to advertise in our newsletter, please contact our office. Where possible, we will be happy to assist.

Thank You

Just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all the LBPS students who have contributed to this months newsletter, we really do enjoy reading your articles and stories of your personal progress.

If students have stories they would like to share, then please email your news items to me jennifer.kendall@decyp.tas.gov.au

Jennifer Kendall
School Business Manager