Dear Families,

Welcome to the 2024 school year. 

I would like to welcome new families to our school community.  It has been great to watch students new to the Big Picture Design connect with the design through learning about the learning goals, exploring areas of interest and developing their learning plans.  We have certainly hit the ground running. 

I have been particularly impressed with our student’s mature approach to learning and interacting with others within and outside the school. 

This year JP (Jennifer Pollard) has joined our team.  JP is in an AST role, supporting quality teaching across the school with a particular focus on literacy and supporting our 9/10 sector.  Jen comes with a vast array of experience in the education sector and life beyond school – she has certainly been a great addition to the LBPS team.

The success of our design for learning is evident in many ways – the competence and confidence of our students in out learning, in our Inveresk community and their capacity to respectfully communicate is demonstrated daily.  In addition to this we are very proud to have a number of our senior secondary students support their learning plans and future pathways enrolled in TAFE courses and the University of Tasmania’s ‘High Achiever Program’.

I would also like to thank staff, students and families I have met for the fantastic welcome I have received.  The LBPS community is certainly a caring, and kind community working together to support the learning of each individual learner.  The recent learning plan meetings were a great example of the common commitment shared between students, families and staff.

Thank you for your commitment and support of the Big Picture Learning Design, I look forward to working with you during your child’s time with us.

Whats Been Happening : In addition to our regular learning program:

Welcome Back BBQ 

Workplace Safe Speaker

Fire Drill Practice

Exhibitions

As we have shortened learning time in Term 1 due to student free days and public holidays, therefore our Term 1 Exhibitions will take place in week two of Term 2.  This decision has been made to support our learners to ensure they are well supported for their first exhibition for 2024.

Learning Plan Meetings

Thank you to all our families who recently attended and actively participated in learning plan meetings, this partnership is a vital part of your child’s learning and these meetings ensure that positive learning outcomes are achieved at school. Please remember that we aim to keep communication channels open throughout the term and welcome regular family involvement. Our key motto is that “Families are enrolled too”.

Edsmart - Student Absences

Schools will be switching over to a new messaging platform for communicating with you with regards to student absences. Edsmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging such as SMS and emails.

Edsmart will be used to manage absence messages i.e. you will receive a SMS or email alert if your child is absent from school requesting a response. 

Please continue to use the LBPS SMS to inform us in advance if your child is going to be absent from school 0427 016 460. Sending an SMS is the most efficient way to let the school office know in advance of any student absences.

Attendance At School Matters- Making Every Minute Count!

At LBPS we have a real commitment to supporting and ensuring students attend school. Our school day begins at 8.55 am and finishes at 2:45 pm.  We monitor individual student attendance closely and would really like to see all students work hard to increase their individual attendance percentage.

Why is regular attendance at school important?

Regular school attendance will mean that your child has a better chance in life.

• they learn better
• they make friends
• they are happier
• they have a brighter future.

Do I need to let the school know if my child has been away from school?

Yes, you must let the school know the reason why your child has been absent. If possible, advise the school beforehand.  This includes part day absences for appointments.

School Association Meetings

Our 1st School Association Meeting For 2024 – Wednesday 27^th March - 5.00pm-6.00pm. More information will be provided closer to the meeting date.

At LBPS we are grateful for the support of our families and wider school community. Learning is a partnership between home and school. School Association is one way we work with our families.  I encourage any family or members of our school community to come along to hear more about our journey and shape our wonderful school at these meetings. Joining our School Association is a great opportunity to be part of the decision making within the school. Our group meets during week 8 of each term (Wednesday at 5:00 pm). Light refreshments are provided at each meeting!

We welcome and encourage new members so please consider completing a nomination form.

Communication

Effective communication between home and school is vital to support our students’ successful engagement and participation in education. As a school we are working to reduce paper usage and as a consequence, we aim to regularly communicate with families via email and/or text. Please ensure that the email address that our office has on file (from validation forms) is your active address.

Our Launceston Big Picture (Official) Facebook Page is an excellent source of information and communication of updates to students, parents and the community.  Of course, anyone using these are required to follow strict protocols regarding appropriate conduct/comment/posts. 

Parents are encouraged to contact Advisory Teachers or any member of staff at the slightest cause for any concern for students. 

Our Newsletter

We are very keen for all families to access our newsletter which is sent electronically and at the end of every month. Please remember to click on the link below in order to subscribe:

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.

Useful Links

Website - Our website allows you to access lots of useful information about our school 

SMS Only - 0427 016 460 to report in advance of student absences

Our Mobile Phone Policy

From the commencement of Term 2, 2020 all Tasmanian Government Schools from Kindergarten to Year 12, implemented restrictions on the use of mobile phones by students at school. The Minister for Education and Training announced the policy in November, 2019.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN assessments will begin on the 13^th March and run for two weeks. The assessments are carried out online and are far more targeted to the level of the students completing them. The program is able to adjust the difficulty of the questions based on how many your child is getting correct. We found the engagement with the NAPLAN assessments to be much higher when students are completing them online.

Please encourage your child to do their very best and not be concerned about the test like nature of these assessments.

The data that comes back to our school as a result of the assessments, is extremely useful in measuring how well we are supporting the learning of our students at Launceston Big Picture School.

Thanks

Cindy Johnston
Principal 

We want your help for our Learning Through Internship Program!

Launceston Big Picture School appreciates the support of the following businesses, who have offered a Learning Through Internship 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

Tasmanian Honey Company founder Julian Wolfhagen shared his knowledge and passion of beekeeping to Year 9 students Hayden and Ash. 

They were keen to connect with an expert to obtain an insight of working in the honey industry. 

Hayden's Term 1 project is on bees and honey production, intending to build their own beehive. 

Julian kindly provided a tour of the factory at Perth where we watched Leatherwood honey being strained from honeycomb to being packaged for consumption and retail sales. 

We experienced a honey tasting of a range of floral essences and flavours, dipping our pop sticks to taste pure authentic honey on our palate was a memorable morning.

Mel Van Asperen
LTI Co-ordinator

Grade 11 Advisory

Students in our Advisory have a wide range of interesting Personal Projects that are well underway. From criminal toxicology, investigating the beauty standards throughout time, the evolution of monotremes, crafting and making a film, the best spots to travel around Tasmania and the world and which method of transport is best, forestry, forensic science and many more. Koby is currently investigating the different methods used by forensic scientists to gather evidence and information.   Have a read below of the information found out about fingerprints:

FORENSIC SCIENCE CSI: Fingerprints

Fingerprints can be found on nearly any solid surface which can also include the human body. “Analysts classify fingerprints into three categories according to the type of surface on which they are found and whether they are visible or not: Fingerprints on soft surfaces (such as soap, wax, wet paint, fresh caulk etc,) are likely to be three-dimensional plastic prints; those on hard surfaces are either patent visible or latent invisible prints” (Forensic Science Simplified, 2013).   Using fingerprints in court and police proceedings was invented in July 1858 and this has helped a lot of police officers into finding out who really is behind these crimes, by using fingerprints and finding fingerprinted evidence. Fingerprints don’t change while you grow, they will always stay the same as each ridge of the outer skin is dotted with sweat pores.

Latent prints:

Latent fingerprints can be found on a range of not easily visible surfaces.  These prints are deposited on surfaces when the body’s natural oils and sweat on the skin touches objects. To detect latent fingerprints investigators could use: fingerprint powders, chemical reagents or alternate light sources.

“One of the most common methods for discovering and collecting latent fingerprints is by dusting a smooth or nonporous surface with fingerprint powder (black granular, aluminium flake, black magnetic etc.)” (Forensic Science Simplified, 2013). After the powder is added, they dust the surface to see if any fingerprints appear.   If they do, a photograph is taken before they remove the print with adhesive tape.   An example of a latent fingerprint that has been photographed is below:

Grade 11-12 Advisory

Python Bots Progress

29/02/2024

So far, I have been able to make a very simple sma (Simple Moving Average) trading bot, which I have been able to implement a python library call ‘Backtesting’. Which at first was quiet challenging, but after some perseverance I have managed to get some good back-tested data.

Below, after some small refinement, is the data I got from the back-tested data of BTC (Bitcoin) since the beginning of last October (1/10/2023) on the 15m timeframe. The bot was given a simulated 100K and it turned that into 645K with 10X leverage, that bot didn’t have any SL (Stop Loss), or TP (Take Profit) software built into it at all so it wouldn’t be used for real trading because of the large risk that it may liquidate the account.

Right now, I would say the biggest challenge will be trying to refine it, so it has a good win rate while keeping a good return.

I think below is the best one yet from the sma strategy, it has a 1% move SL and a 4% move TP with 10X leverage. So that means when the TP gets hit it increases capital by 40% and when SL gets hit it loses 10% of capital. I will need to simulate what the returns will be if it only risks 5-30% of capital.

Big Picture Distinguishers

Distinguisher 1: Academic Rigour: Head, Heart, and Hand 

Big Picture schools have a strong intellectual purpose for each and every student. Students are continually challenged to deepen their learning and improve their performance across six learning goals: quantitative reasoning, empirical reasoning, social reasoning, communication, personal qualities, and knowing how to learn.  

Students and parents have met with advisors to share their project ideas. Students have been working on project proposals and have started researching their framing questions.  

Connection, Respect, Responsibility, Growth, Courage

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 Connection, Respect, Responsibility, Growth and Courage.

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

• Olive Rochstein: Respect - For being respectful towards staff and peers
• Alex Foster: Respect - For helping another student with their clothing
• Noah Allen: Respect - For helping Jake with his project
• Annabelle Airey-O'Byrne: Courage - You've been courageous in helping fellow classmates
• Bryah Firth: Respect - For helping others
• Bella Phillips: Courage, Responsibility & Connectedness - You are a nice guy

FACEBOOK POSTS 

As always, please remember that when engaging with any Department for Education, Children and Young People 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 Launceston 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

2024 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 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