Edition 1, Term 1 2024

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

The start to the 2024 school year has been a productive and exciting team as we build upon the processes and structures that we embedded across the school throughout the previous year. Our recent “Meet the teacher bbq” was a great success with many parents engaging with our staff to foster positive relationships and partnerships in learning.

I have been impressed with learning across the school and the level of engagement in lessons by our students. Our teachers are working hard in collaborative teams to design engaging learning opportunities for students, and we are seeing a strong shift and focus in this area as students respond to our approach to explicit teaching as part of our school priority of Reading.

Our Grade 10 Leaders have started the year strong and are working towards a number of great initiatives for the school and this week have attended the GRIP Leadership conference in Hobart. Next week our Grade 10 students and Grade 8 Future Leaders will have the chance to participate in two leadership camps at Port Arthur. This is a new initiative and I look forward to hearing and sharing the outcomes from the camps in the coming weeks. We have now announced our 2024 House Sport Leaders. I would like to congratulate those students who have shown the growth and courage to put themselves forward.

Barton House Leaders

• Skye Large
• Heet Desai
• Lockie Warren

Parkes House Leaders

• Annabell Finn
• Muhammad Mirza
• Jahli Langford

Hughes House Leaders

• Seth Henry
• Will Clifford
• Lily Bromfield

YEAR 7

Our first day of high school was on February the 8th. The main subjects in Year 7 are Hass, English, Maths, Science, Wellbeing and H.P.E. Our specialist subjects are Music, Woodwork, Art and Food.

Our grade 7 focus for term 1 is respect. Another focus is to respect our friends and our school by wearing the school unform. We have school Clubs like chess club kids universe, crochet club. Our school is very lucky to have these clubs at Cosgrove. The Cosgrove way is respect, reasonability and resilience.

We really enjoy getting DOJOs. We really love sport, like basketball at lunchtime in the gym. On Tuesdays we have gr 10 peer support leaders in Wellbeing where we get to do lots of different activities.

By Indianna and Eli

YEAR 8

It’s been a busy start to the 2024 school year for Year 8’s. They have embraced the many changes which have come their way including the move up to D Block, a new timetable and new teachers.

The focus in Wellbeing this term has been on the Cosgrove Value, Respect. Students have been learning what respect looks like when they are at school, at home, the workplace, and within the community.

In English, students have been doing a class novel study Skullduggery Peasant. Along the way they are learning about characterisation and narrative writing.

In Maths, students are looking at measurement and geometry and learning through some hands on activities.

Next week, 10 Year 8 students will be attending a Future Leadership Camp at Port Arthur. The selected students have been recognised by the Year 8 teachers as students who demonstrate the qualities of a leader. This camp will give them the opportunity to work on their leadership skills in the hope that one day they can be school leaders.

YEAR 9

In Grade 9 we have hit the ground running and have an exciting year ahead of us. In Wellbeing lessons students have broken down The Cosgrove Way and our school values. They have been discussing what they can do both inside and outside of the classroom to demonstrate these values. We have also been highlighting respect and what this looks like around our school. On top of this, students have been looking at their attendance data, reflecting on it and they have created goals around what they can do to improve this. By being in school, this allows our students to maximise their potential and achieve their goals.

In English, students are investigating what makes an effective narrative. Soon students will be working hard to create their own narrative proving their recent learnings. We are looking forward to sharing these with parents. In History, students are focusing on the Industrial Revolution and using this knowledge to complete a source analysis.

In the coming weeks students will sit their final NAPLAN tests. Also, after an application process we will find out who has been successful in winning positions as a Sports Leader. I know there are a few nervous students awaiting to hear this decision!

YEAR 10

So far this term in the Grade 10 classes, we all have been learning about mutual respect and what helps to make up a friendship between two or more people and seeing people’s unique contributions, understanding differences but also capitalising on common ground.

In the past few weeks, the Grade 10 classes have been in an invention group called SASS (sexual assault support service) and they have been here helping us understand consent and what it means. Students have learnt that consent is a key thing to learn about because once they are older, they will have to understand the different consent signals.

Not long ago, the prefect team decided on planning a Leadership Camp to build up their communication and teamwork skills. The leadership camp is taking place next week on Thursday and Friday and it involves Grade 10s and some teachers\staff.

Overall, all Grade 10 classes have been settling into the new year very well and they have all been working exceptionally hard and becoming comfortable with all the changes that are happening within the year group and around the school.

Overall, we are beyond proud of all the Grade 10s, we cannot wait to see how the rest of the term turns out.

By Lili 

Prefect Report

In wellbeing classes across the school our focus has been on the school value of respect. Students have been unpacking what Respect looks like at Cosgrove as part of ‘The Cosgrove Way’. In year 10 we have been learning about stereotypes and how to respect people without judging them. 

This term we have been welcoming our new year 7s and supporting them with transitioning into the high school environment through the peer support specialist class. The peer support program has focused on getting to know each other, helping the year 7s adapt to their classes, who to go to for help and building connections between the year groups. Many of the Year Ten students involved completed a two day program with Mr Arnold and Ms Reid to be part of this program. The Peer Support leaders have been organising and delivering many activities with the Year 7 students each week. We look forward to continuing this throughout the year.

The past few weeks we have had intervention programs such as the SASS program throughout the school across all grades. The SASS program has been helping us understand what consent is and why it is important. The feedback from the SASS leaders is that our students have been really easy to connect with and have participated well in the program.

By Lili 

Missing File: *insert 1x images for Prefect*

Support and Intervention programs

Across the school we have developed a number of support and intervention programs to assist in enhancing the level of engagement of our students. This year we have a strong focus on addressing our outdoor areas and are working towards revitalising our cricket nets, building external seating to replace items stolen out of hours last year, concerting in newly purchased aluminium benches and tables, building play equipment and outdoor gym spaces, finishing building a Pizza Oven that started construction 4 years ago, re-invigorating our garden beds and creating an outdoor learning space, just to name a few. All of these are aimed at providing engagement opportunities but also skills and knowledge that students can take away into their future.

Respect, Responsibility and Resilience

This week’s first formal whole school assembly was a great success where we celebrated the many achievements of our students through Values certificates for Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. Please see below the list of certificate winners.

Year 7 Respect Award

Zaylan
Kaycee
Lily
Bon

Year 7 Responsibility Award

Chad
Seth
Allan
Bayleigh

Year 7 Resilience Award

Izzy
Grace
Jayla
Millie

Year 8 Respect Award

Mason
Bella
Hazel

Year 8 Responsibility Award

Charlotte
Bella
Lucas

Year 8 Resilience Award

Sophia
Brock
Jacob

Year 9 Respect Award

Jade
Skyla
Mitchell

Year 9 Responsibility Award

Janan
Isabella
Zavy

Year 9 Resilience Award

Miley
Cooper
Riley

Year 10 Respect Award

Jenna
Annabell
Heet

Year 10 Responsibility Award

Ryelan
Skye
Jenny

Year 10 Resilience Award

Will
Jasmine
Muhammed

School Priorities

At Cosgrove High School we have two main priorities this year that guide and directs our work as a school. We are proud of the achievements we made in 2023 with lifting the level of Reading growth and Achievement and seeing these above any results from the last six years. Alongside of this our increase in students’ sense of school belonging was also significant. We are set to continue this work in 2024 with a stronger emphasis on measuring how well our students are engaged in the classroom with their learning.  Our priorities are:

Priority 1 - Quality Teaching

Implementation of a whole school approach to the structured teaching of literacy and establish a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework for reading.  Students will be provided a multi-layered approach to literacy support across the school and we have targeted support to enhance reading comprehension.

Priority 2 – Wellbeing for Learning

Implementation of a whole school approach to improving attendance and reducing absence and establish a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework for attendance. Supports will be in place to ensure all children and young people are safe at school. 

Uniform

We have focussed strongly on the expectations around wearing of the school uniform and are excited to have introduced the new school hoodie as part of our expected unform. We have been inundated with requests for our school hoodie and have more on the way.

Wearing the school uniform is important for students to instil a sense of identity and pride within our school community. We need to ensure we maintain our uniform expectations and we are working hard to ensure students are following these simple reminders. Continual parent support around our uniform expectations is very appreciated and welcomed. If students do not choose to wear their uniform, we have strategies in place to support them to not only make the right choice but to limit extra-curricular activities for those that choose not to follow our expected behaviours.

If you have not bought one of our new hoodies for your child yet, please contact the office to place and order and we will contact you once they arrive.

What’s acceptable

• Undergarments that are navy blue such as a thermal, long-sleeved top (without a hood).
• There are some long sleeve garments available from our unform shop
• Cosgrove Beanie or hat

What’s not

• Non uniform jumpers or hoodies, pants, shorts
• Puffer jackets
• Hats worn in classrooms
• Hoodies or jumpers that are worn as an undergarment are not to be visible. This include having a hood hanging out the back of a school top
• Non Navy coloured tops worn under school uniform
• Small over the shoulder handbag style bags

School Association

I have been inspired by the parent engagement this year and we have had significant interest in our school association and as such we are now able to formally form a School Association for the first time in many years. Thank you to those parents who have expressed interest and nominated for the School Association. Details of our first meeting are below and all members of the community are welcome to attend.

When: Wednesday 10^th April
Time: 4.00pm
Where: Cosgrove High School Staff Room

NAPLAN

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 13 and 25 March 2024.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the second year NAPLAN has been held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year. These can then be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. The questions a student receives depends on their answers to previous questions. This means that students answer questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN. Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Parent information brochures and other resources

A parent information brochure and questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child can be found at:

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website and covers a variety of topics such as the timing of the tests and how results from the assessments should be understood.

It also allows access to a Public Demonstration Site which shows the types of questions students will answer and the functionalities that are available in NAPLAN tests.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.

EdSmart

Our School has switched over to a new messaging platform for communicating with you.   This has replaced our current system, MGM.

The new platform, called EdSmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging i.e. SMS and emails. For now, it will be used to manage absences messages i.e. you will receive a SMS or email alert if your child is absent from school requesting a response.  It will also allow us to send a communication message to all parent/guardians.

The platform will, over time, be rolled out across all Tasmanian Government Schools and new features will be added. 

You will receive a text message and/or an email with further details.  Note, the text message sender will be a shortened version of our school’s name - Please keep an eye out for it!

Our school is now live and using this system.

Further information is available on the Department’s website

Reading

At Cosgrove High School we have embarked on a journey of delivering a more evidence-based approach to reading, writing, and spelling instruction in the high school setting. A major first step is the investment in staff training and knowledge building.

We are pleased to announce that we now have five Orton-Gillingham trained staff here at Cosgrove High School with a mixture of teachers and TAs. We have also dedicated (and re-furnished) two instructional spaces to deliver high-quality language and literacy intervention.

• Don’t guess!
• Sound the word all the way through.
• Keep track with your finger.
• Break long words into syllables.

– Lyn Stone’s Decoding Dragon Rules, 2019.

In addition to our intervention space, we are thrilled to begin training for our Grade 7 English teachers, Eliza Dobson and Rachael Scott, who will be undertaking a training session in mid-March on the explicit teaching of Morphology for rapid vocabulary development.

Cosgrove High School’s dedicated TAs, Ange and Emily, undertaking Orton-Gillingham training to improve their knowledge and skills in language and literacy development and instruction! Ange and Emily will put their skills to work in our Reading intervention space.

Chess Club

Chess Club has started off with much enthusiasm this year at Cosgrove High School.  Last week saw more than 30 students participate in our weekly Chess Club meeting.  We have been lucky enough to have James from Black Square Chess join us again to provide us with some expertise coaching and chess strategies.  Students are eagerly practicing getting ready for the Term 1 Interschool Chess Tournament. 

Community Engagement

We are very pleased to have been invited to attend the Hobart City ANZAC Day Service and March as flag bearers as well as the Claremont RSL Sub Branch ANZAC Day Service and the Glenorchy City Council ANZAC Day Service. It is fantastic that we are able to engage in community events and look forward to ongoing work in the community throughout the year.

We are also a State Election Polling location on the 23rd March and welcome all families to attend the School to cast their vote on that day. Staff and Students will be running a cake stall, drinks and bbq throughout the day and money raised will go towards helping raise funds for necessary playground equipment for the school. We hope to see you there.

Redevelopment update

The demolition work at Cosgrove is now complete and with the Tender for the major build now released we are excited to see further progress towards the revitalisation project. We anticipate that by the middle of Term 2 we will see works begin on site. Our students, staff and the wider school community are to be praised for the resilience shown during the project and for the continual adaptation to the changing environment.

Well-Being

At Cosgrove High School staff are committed to making lifelong learners and positive adults for our future community.  As such we invest in the future wellbeing of our school community through our explicit teaching of wellbeing at Cosgrove High School.  We have an amazing support team at Cosgrove and if you have any concerns for your child you can contact their well-being teacher and/or their AST and referrals can be made. We would also encourage the use of outside agencies such as Pulse and Headspace who do amazing work in our community

Our well-being curriculum links with our school values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility and are underpinned by the Departments new values of Respect, Growth, Courage, Responsibility and Connection.

This term our whole school focus is on respect. This includes exploring topics such as empathy and sympathy, respectful relationships and respect of place space and possessions.  Layered in with our teachings is our whole school positive behaviour system (PBS) where all staff are constantly looking for opportunities to reward students who are displaying our values. We will shorty have our first PBS excursion for the year in week 7.

Our well-being line is in its second year of existence at Cosgrove and we are already seeing measurable value in the explicit teaching of values, Social skills and mindfulness activities.  I encourage families to engage with students around what they are currently learning in Wellbing.

Vaping - resources available for families and students

Vaping continues to be a trend amongst children and young people and I know families are as concerned about this as schools are.

Electronic cigarettes, or vapes, are similar to smoking cigarettes, but don’t use tobacco.

Instead, vapes are a battery-operated device which heats a liquid. This liquid turns into an aerosol and is inhaled.  Like smoking cigarettes, vaping is highly addictive. Research shows that young people are three times as likely to start smoking if they vape.

While Tasmanian law says that a person under 18 can’t use, possess or buy vapes, we know that some young people are doing it because they believe it’s a safer option than smoking cigarettes.

It’s important to work together to educate them about the health impacts of vaping and the harm it can cause on their short- and long-term physical health.

The Department for Education, Children and Young People has a dedicated webpage with information and resources for teachers, parents/carers and young people.  This includes tips for talking to your children about vaping and how you can support them in quitting.  The attached fact sheet also has some useful information to help support you in with these conversations.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR 2024