Dear Families,

Term two has certainly flown by, our school focus on ‘Leaving to Learn’ has provided a diverse range of learning opportunities for our students and has assisted the strengthening of community connections. One of the highlights was the opportunity our learners had to play roles in the Launceston Airport’s emergency response practice. Not only did our students learn from this experience, but it was also a great opportunity for them to think about and contribute to the learning of others.

A number of our students have also organised school-based events to raise awareness and money for others.  Grade 12 student, Bryah, organised a social action project to raise awareness of domestic violence, this was a whole day event including a guest speaker and the viewing of a related documentary.  Josh, a Grade 9 student, led the whole school Ice Bucket Challenge event to raise awareness and money to support Men’s Mental Health.  In addition to this Bella, one of our Grade 11 students, has helped to educate us about the plight of Tasmanian Devils, raising money to ‘adopt’ two Tasmanian Devils.  Sylvain, a Grade 10 student at LBPS, has also been working to raise awareness of suicide, organising the push-up challenge on our site.   Looking beyond the self and taking action to contribute positively to others is something we encourage our students to do; Sylvain, Bella, Josh and Bryah have set a great example through their work in this area.

Last week was Exhibition week.  Once again it was great to see the progress of our learners – increased confidence, courage to extend their learning and the considered peer feedback given has been impressive.

Mid Year reports come home this week, included in the reports are advisor and student narratives which tell the story of your child’s learning this term.  From Grade 9-12 students will also receive indicators of their progression within each of the Big Picture learning goals.  If you would like more information about this, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s advisor or myself.

This week we have been participating in the External School Review, I would like to thank families that were able to participate in this – it is great to receive feedback from such a comprehensive review process.

Thank you all for supporting your child’s learning at LBPS this term, we hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday and look forward to seeing you all in Term 3.

Thanks,
Cindy

Cindy Johnston
Principal 

We want to acknowledge the businesses that have supported our Learning Through Internship Program!

Launceston Big Picture School appreciates the support of the businesses who have offered a Learning Through Internship placement. We look forward to working with those businesses in the future.

If your business would like to find out how to become involved in our Learning Through Internship Program, please contact Mel Van Asperen via email on melanie.van.asperen@decyp.tas.gov.au

Term 2 LTI Project - William

Year 9 student William’s Essential Question for their Term 2 project is, "How can Tasmania improve its regional bus network?"  

William is a frequent user of Manions Coaches and is interested in the history and future of Tasmania’s passenger transport network.  During Term 2 William has contacted bus companies to survey their networks and passenger transport services.  William and his Advisory Teacher Anthony organised a tour of bus service Kinetic to learn about the workshop and logistics. Following from this real world experience Kinetic supported our Learning Through Internship placement by hosting William on a Tuesday for four shadow days. 

Williams journal entry 

10th June 2025 

I had my first session at Kinetic yesterday. 

I started at 9am looking at scheduling, before looking at the operations management as they worked out charters from school sports teams. 

I then helped with making tags for the seats and upholstery before heading back to operations.  I looked at how they assign driving and make the drivers schedule for the school bus.

Launceston Airport Excursion

On Wednesday the 28th of May interested students took part in Launceston Airport’s emergency exercise. Every 2 years the airport must perform a live exercise to practice their emergency response in case of a real incident. Students were briefed about the exercise and safety protocols, before they were ferried to the ‘crash site’ to perform the exercise. 26 students took part in the exercise, acting as injured passengers onboard the ‘crashed’ aircraft. Injuries ranged from scrapes, bruises and shock all the way up to paralysis. Students took great pleasure in acting out their injuries, with many a limping/crying ‘crash victim’ helped away from the scene by emergency services. Emergency personnel from Fire, Ambulance, Police, SES and more attended the ‘crash’ and practiced their emergency response procedures.  

After being ‘rescued’ and taken back to the terminal, students were provided with lunch while airport staff took their character names to account for the safety of all ‘passengers’. When all passengers were accounted for, they were reunited with their ‘families’ (airport staff) in the arrivals lounge before we departed back to school. The day was a great success, with the airport and emergency services gathering a lot of helpful data, and students enjoying the opportunity to unleash their acting skills, while learning some new things along the way.  

Feminism: Ruby’s Senior Project

Feminism is a really big part of the world we live in today. It stands for women’s rights, advocating for equality and a history of strong people. Feminism means something different for people all over the world, for some it’s the light within the dark that is our society and a beacon of hope, for some it’s just a silly movement, for some it stands in the way of everything they’ve worked for, and for some it’s a really scary fate they don’t want to acknowledge.

Feminism has been growing and evolving since its existence and there is no ‘one meaning’ of Feminism, because people are free to interpret it in whichever way they choose. Feminism is fighting for a world in which no one is valued more than others because of their gender. Feminism is fighting for women to have the same opportunities as men and proving that they are just as valuable.

Ruby
12 Advisory

LBPS Domestic Violence Awareness Day 2025

On Wednesday 11^th June, as part of her Senior Project to raise awareness about domestic violence, Bryah coordinated a whole school event at LBPS.   In the morning students learnt about “What is domestic violence?” and the difference to family violence.  

We were also lucky enough to listen, via Teams, to the inspiring story of Bec Rawlings (“Fight to Live” on Netflix) and of her battling opponents in the ring and adversity in life.

In the afternoon, students were able to create a range of different posters to help promote Domestic Violence Awareness Day, which we will be putting up around the school.   This was a great event that helped raise much needed awareness.

Push-Up Challenge

Fantastic to have our students recognising the need for improved mental health supports by participating in the Push-Up Challenge. Well done Sylvain for organising this as a social action project!

Ice Bucket Challenge

Great courage was shown by our staff and students recently - to participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness of Men's Mental Health.   A huge pat on the back to Josh, a Grade 9 student, who led the organising of the events of the day.  A great day of considering diverse perspectives, raising awareness and taking action to benefit others.

Library

This year students were fortunate to choose a book they would like to read from Petrarch’s Book Shop.

Students and staff now have access to Launceston Big Picture School catalogue where they can view all books that the school has on campus and online.

Students can borrow up to three books at a time.

When accessing the school catalogue students can gain access to the local Tasmanian Library, TasTafe Library and the UTAS Library.

These are just some of the fantastic resources Launceston Big Picture School has to support the love and desire to read a good book.

Hayley McPartlin
Teacher Assistant

Connection, Respect, Responsibility, Growth, Courage

We are always looking for ways to reward positive behaviour at our school.

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

Winners receive a voucher to dine at Cafe Red and our winners this month are:

• Jesse G: Growth - For great work at your LTI
• Harvey B: Connectedness & Responsibility - For helping to offer food options to students on the floor

Distinguisher 5: Collaboration for learning 

Students work in one-on-one or small group learning environments around their interests both inside and outside the school. Through internships, the community plays an integral role in the education of the students.

Distinguisher 12: Diverse and enduring partnerships

A Big Picture School has a strong focus on building and creating external partnerships. These include partnerships with the family, mentors, local councils, businesses, universities, TAFE colleges and other training providers. These partnerships give students the opportunities to pursue their learning and achieve their goals.

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.

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

2025 Student Leaders 

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 you 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 Launceston Big Picture School students who have contributed to this month's 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