MIDDLE ROAD, (PO BOX 1261)DEVONPORT

Phone: 6420 8100.

email: reece.high@education.tas.gov.au

Issue 4

NEWSLETTER 24 July 2009

From the Principal’s Desk

Appearance
We are very concerned about two things at the moment. One, is the number of students who
are out of uniform and two, is the number of girls who are coming to school heavily made up.

The regulations are very clear around the wearing of uniform; if you don’t wear full school
uniform then you can not participate in some out of school events or attend any formal
events. At break times students who are out of uniform will be limited to the canteen
courtyard and if students can not abide by this regulation then there will be further
consequences. If there is a cost issue then please contact the school; however there are too
many students who say they can not afford school uniform which is very reasonably priced but
they can wear brand named items which are very expensive. There is also a group of students
for whom we have purchased uniforms and they are still choosing not to wear them. It is
about choices and this group of students are choosing not to do the right thing.

In recent weeks I have had several complaints from the school attendants and grade 7 and 8
female teachers about the state of the toilets. The issues have been raised with the students
but the biggest issue is that some girls spend all their spare time in the toilets applying layer
upon layer of make up and there is foundation, mascara and eye shadow across all the
surfaces, every where! If any girl is found in the toilets with hair straightners or other
products they will be confiscated and parents will be asked to collect these possessions from
the front office.

It is unrealistic to say that there will be no makeup but excessive eye shadow in bright and
gaudy colours, along with heavy black eye pencil will not be tolerated. We have asked girls to
make sure that what they wear is appropriate for school but if there is no improvement we
will be ringing families to ask them to take their child home and remove the make up or give
us permission to provide cleanser at school. This problem is at its worst in grade 8 but it
exists in other grades. The message is clear to all families and all people who wear makeup, to
make sure it is appropriate; we come to school to learn not to spend time applying makeup.

Whether we like it or not, we are all judged by our appearance

Sheree Vertigan
Principal

Ree ce H igh S chool

Mid Year Reports and Three Way Conferences
Reece High School invites all families and their child to attend 3-way Conferences between
Monday 3rd August and Thursday 6th August 2009.

This is an excellent opportunity to discuss your child's achievements in detail and for
teachers to explain more fully the Tasmanian Curriculum and SARIS (Student Assessment
and Reporting Information System).

Appointments can be made at the school reception desk or by phone (64208100). To assist
with school organisation all appointments need to be made by the close of business Friday
31st July.

As a general rule, all teachers will be available for appointments at the following times:

Grade 7-9
Monday 3rd August 3pm-6pm,
Tuesday 4th August 3pm-5pm,
Wednesday 5th August 3pm-6pm
Thursday 6th August 3pm-5pm

Grade 7 principal teachers only

Wednesday 5th August 10.40am-2.45pm

Grade 8 principal teachers only

Thursday 6th August 8.40am-12.25pm

Grade 9 principal teachers only

Tuesday 4th August 10.40am- 2.45pm

Grade 10 only
Monday 3rd August 10.40am-5pm (grade 10 principal teachers only from 10.40 - 3)
Tuesday 4th August 3pm-5pm,
Wednesday 5th August 3pm-5pm
Thursday 6th August 3pm-5pm

In addition following a presentation by an Academy (Don College) representative at 6.00pm

all grade 10 principal teachers will be available to speak with parents in this year group until
8pm on Monday 3rd August (Further details will be forwarded in a letter for all grade 10
parents).

Reports will be distributed at 3-way conferences. Students will not be issued their reports.

Please contact the Principal on 64208100 should you have any difficulty organising an
appointment.

We are currently reviewing our values and purposes. Parents will have the opportunity to
have input into this process via an optional survey during 3-way conferences.
MINDMATTERS YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
What is the Youth
Empowerment Process?
An off shoot of the national
Mind Matters Resource, The
Youth Empowerment
Process, or (YEP), aims to
develop and encourage the
leadership roles that young
people play when instigating,
leading or furthering a whole
school or community
approach to mental health
and wellbeing promotion.
Topics in the workshops
include: Stress and Coping;
Bullying and Harassment;
Creating Our Space; Creating
Connections; Supporting
peers. Students then use this
information to take action in
their school.
MindMatters:
A Mental Health Promotion Re-
source for Secondary Schools
Leading mental health & wellbeing
www.mindmatters.edu.au
The Major Project:
We ran two day sessions at
Camp Clayton, inviting schools
from all over the North-West of
Tasmania. In all there were over
80 high school students who
participated from Smithton,
Wynyard, Sheffield, Penguin and
King Island. The purpose of these
workshops was to; increase the
students’ leadership skills; discuss
resilience and drug & alcohol
related issues for young people;
and, to improve the knowledge of
the YEP program amongst other
schools. Feedback on evaluation
forms was very positive and some
schools have requested further
involvement with our program.
Our School:
So far this year, the Prefect Board
have used their YEP training from
last year and knowledge from the
facilitators’ manual to create a safe
and comfortable environment for
students to share ideas and issues
which affect their mental health
and wellbeing, and concerns
around ‘partying’. We ran sessions
using aspects of YEP with grade 7-
9 classes to break down barriers
and begin the process for future
sessions. From these sessions we
found only a small number of
students actually were directly
involved in weekend partying,
although people thought
‘everyone’ did it. Lots of students
were worried about safety and
feeling happy at school. As a
result we developed a plan to
decrease bullying through the use
of surveys, discussions and a
‘Bullying Area Map’. We also hope
these sessions will continue to
provide a way for the concerns of
all the students can be heard and
taken into consideration. We
want to help students feel
supported and more connected at

SYDNEY! On Saturday 27th of June six members of our prefect board, along with Mrs. Richardson, set off
to be a part of the Youth Congress and Mind Matters-Next Generation held at the Novotel Brighton
Beach, Sydney. Reece High School has been involved with Mind Matters Youth Empowerment Process
since 2006, and was acknowledged for all the work we have done regarding the process. People who were
interested in continuing the process nominated themselves and names were drawn from a hat. The six
lucky prefects drawn were: Maddie Cole, Trent Coleman, Sophie Smith, Tim Kariotis, Caitlyn Walker and
Amy Baldock. We participated in two days of the conference. The first day we were involved in the Youth
Congress giving feedback and ideas for the new section of the facilitator’s manual. There were students
from schools all around Australia participating. The second day consisted of several workshops as part of
The Next Generation Conference. We participated in: Student Leadership in Mental Health Promotion;
Mind Matters Youth Empowerment Process Approaches; Cyber Bullying and Young People, and: Young
People - Takin’ It Forward (planning for action in our own schools). There were some interesting speakers
including Mark McCrindle and Professor Donna Cross. Donna spoke about the connection between
bullying and loneliness, this was interesting as we had already recognised this in our own
school and had already planned to implement a process to address this issue. After these
sessions we finished off the day with the official launch of the published version of the new Student
Empowerment Resource Manual followed by a cocktail party (non alcoholic for students!). We would
particularly like to thank Vanessa Houltby, MindMatters Youth Empowerment Project Officer, for her
continued support and inspiration – it was great to meet her in Sydney!

By Maddie, Sophie, Tim and Trent

 Grade 10 dinner and final assembly for
Tuesday Dec 15

DEVONPORT JAZZ - BE PART OF IT!

Big Band Workshop with James Mad-
dock Swing 4

When: 11am-12.30pm, Saturday 25th July

Where: Jazz Junction, 7 Victoria Parade
How much: Free Bookings at the Devonport
Entertainment & Convention Centre on 03 6420
2900

CALENDAR DATES TO REMEMBER 2009

July
20 - 24 Grade 10 D&F Work Experience
August
3-7 3-Way Conferences
7 Colours Assembly
10-14 Ski Trip
20 School Social
September
4 END OF TERM 2

CONTACT DETAILS
Reece High School, Middle Road, Devonport Tas 7310
Ph (03) 6420 8100 Fax (03) 6420 8199 Email: reece.high@education.tas.gov.au