As we near the end of the year and with our Grade 11 and 12 program complete, it is time to reflect on the year that has been. Our school has an improvement agenda which explicitly details our priority areas and includes strategies that we aim to implement in order to achieve target goals. As a staff we are constantly reviewing our work, celebrating our achievements, whilst continually looking for ways we can further improve. We aim to have measures in place to improve the learning outcomes of every student and ensure that successful outcomes are achieved for all. What success looks like is different. Some of our young people are on University pathways, some are seeking traineeships or apprenticeships, whilst others have ideas to pursue work or further training options. What is important to us, is that we have some clear goals established and a comprehensive plan in place to support all of our young people achieve their goals.

With regard to our school improvement journey, we welcome community and parent input. One way of contributing and “seeing first hand” what is in our plan is to join our School Association which meets once per term. Please contact Jennifer Kendall at school on 6335 1500 for more details.

School Wellbeing Data

I am pleased to let our school community know that we have received our Student Wellbeing Survey results which give us a clear indication of how our student body are travelling in terms of their wellbeing. Some pleasing results indicate that the majority of our students feel connected to school, safe at school and have a strong emotional engagement with their Advisory teacher. Areas of focus for us will continue to be building resilience, looking at ways to further enhance engagement and supporting students with aspects associated with self-esteem. We will continue to interrogate our data during the early part of 2021.

New Enrolments

Our last transition program for 2020 has recently commenced. During the second half of the year, it has been very pleasing to have approximately 60 young people participate in our transition programs, all keen to hear about the great things that happen at our school and more specifically, the key aspects associated with Big Picture Education. We look forward to welcoming lots of new enrolments into our school community in 2021.

Congratulations Iman McGregor

Iman McGregor is one of our very talented Year 12 graduates. As part of her Year 12 program and passion for photography, Iman studied Art Studio Practice at Newstead College. She was recently recognised at the Newstead College Awards Ceremony as being the highest achieving student in this course - an amazing achievement!! Iman has also had three pieces of her photography work selected for the upcoming Art Rage exhibition - also an amazing achievement!!  Congratulations Iman.

Grade 12 Graduates

I would like to acknowledge and congratulate our Grade 12 students who graduate from our school this year. I have been continually impressed with the commitment to learning that has been displayed by our senior students throughout 2020. They have been fantastic role models for our younger students, working diligently and always being prepared to act on feedback from their Advisory teachers.

We look forward to celebrating and recognising the achievements of our Year 12 students at our upcoming awards evening and celebration dinner.

Key School Celebration Events

Our celebrations events have been finalised for this year and include the following key events:

Grade 9 and 10 Learning Expo: Wednesday 02 December at School 1:30-2:45pm

This term, our grade 9 and 10 students have been busy working on their projects and more specifically, planning how they will display and share their learning at our upcoming expo. We welcome and strongly ask that all families visit our school and see the amazing examples of learning that has been occurring. Please remember to, if at all possible, download and complete the attached Covid screening form and bring along on the day.

Presentation Awards Evening:Tuesday December 15, 5:30 - 6:30pm

This year our celebration event is again being held at the Boathouse, 55a Lindsay Street. Individual students will be recognised with special and prestigious awards and we will also farewell and congratulate our Year 12 graduates.

Unfortunately for 2020, we can only have a limited number of people attend this event. Award winners and Year 12 graduates will be able to have one family member in attendance (special circumstances will be considered). We will be sending invitations to families very soon. Those attending will need to RSVP to the invitation. We thank people for their understanding.

Celebration Dinner: Tuesday December 15, 6:30 - 8:30pm

Our Celebration dinner will commence at 6:30pm at the Boathouse. Invited Grade 9 -12 students received their invitations in November. Students will need to be collected from the front of the Boathouse at 8:30pm.  

End of Year Picnic: Wednesday 16 December

All students (9-12) will be going to the Deloraine Pool for a day of fun water activities and a BBQ lunch. This is sure to be a relaxing and positive way to end what has been a busy but enjoyable year.

Congratulations Rob Lewandowski

Rob was recently recognised by the Department of Dducation for having completed 25 years of service with the department. We held an afternoon tea at school to celebrate what is a fantastic achievement. Rob has touched the lives of so many young people during his working life and it was great to listen to some interesting stories involving past and current students.

Adrian Dean

Principal

2021 Validation Forms

The DoE are updating the Student Database (EduPoint) at the end of December, so we are unable to print off the student validation forms until the updates have been completed.  We are aiming to post the validation forms to all parents mid-January along with the 2021 Parent Information Packs which includes all the important consent forms plus the parent information booklet which contains relevant information about the school.

2021 Book Sales Days

Book sales will take place on the following days and students/parents can pick up their stationery packs, purchase school uniforms and have a look at where the Advisory rooms have been allocated.  Parents can pay levies ($500) on these days and please remember to bring in your updated student validation forms and consent forms which will be posted to you mid-January:

Important information about Student Assistance Scheme (STAS)

The Department of Education recently announced that we would be expanding the Student Assistance Scheme for 2021.

Parents who have a current concession card as listed below can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS:

• Services Australia – Centrelink Health Care Card
• Service Australia – Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
• Services Australia – Pensioner Concession Card or
• Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card.

Please note that if you are already receiving student assistance you do not need to complete a form.

For 2021 a new on-line form has been developed to assist with processing applications for new applicants.

The online form can be completed here: 

The form will be available for public use from 10 November 2020.

Once a validated form is completed the Department of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing, this process takes approximately 14 days.

We understand this online option may not be possible for all families, so if you require a hard copy form please contact your school or stas@education.tas.gov.au or 1800 827 055.

2021 Levies

Levies for 2021 will remain the same as 2020 ($500).  The charging of levies is integral to the operation of Tasmanian Government Schools and The Secretary, Department of Education authorised School Principals to impose levies and charges to cover incidental costs and expenses occurred in providing education instruction at the school.  Launceston Big Picture School offer flexible payment options to assist parent/carers to budget for this cost and we offer a weekly/fortnightly/monthly payment plan options which can be discussed with school office personnel.  Levies contribute towards additional fees and charges outside of the curriculum, for example : 

Coming Soon - Touch Screen Interactive Visitor Sign-In

The DoE have developed an interactive touch screen device that allows visitors to sign-in on a computer touch screen rather than writing their details in a book.  The system has already been piloted in some schools and is now ready for general release to other schools.  The screen will be located at our reception, is easy to use and the admin staff will be testing it out over the next few weeks. The system also allows students to sign-in when arriving at school late.  Please note, the system does ask for Working with Vulnerable People Registration details so if you have one, bring it with you so you can enter your details.

Social Action Project

On Wednesday 18 November, Nick’s Advisory had a clean-up session that was a part of their advisory Social Action Project. As a group they went out to Dowling Street and spent the morning picking up rubbish for them to collect data from. When they returned to school, they weighed each bag and sorted through the rubbish categorising the litter in piles, these piles were then counted each piece of rubbish to graph. All the rubbish collected equalled to 16kg, majority of it being soft plastics followed by confectionary and chip packets.

Regina Blair

Year 10 Advisory

Advisory Art Project

Students have been working collaboratively to create public pieces of art work, the theme for the art is “Vibrancy” and these will be displayed on the temporary fencing that surrounds the UTas construction site. Vos construction donated the old signs for us to paint onto and UTas donated the paint.

The last photo shows Jade and Sheryden sharing the year book they made for the year 12’s.

Brock Kerslake

Year 9 Advisor

Art

Recently our Active Learning Art Group had a workshop with ceramic artist and Associate Lecturer, Ms Sonya Brough at the university of Tasmania, Creative Arts campus.

The students enjoyed experiencing mould, coil and other hand-building techniques with a particular focus on exploring texture. The works will be fired and glazed or painted soon with the masterpieces on display at LBPS early next year.

Special thanks to Sonya Brough and UTAs for inviting us to participate.

Ben Miller

Advisory teacher

Bob's Bikes

Recently Ethan, Jake and William featured in an article in The Examiner newspaper with their mentor Bob Blackman. This article sparked a huge response from the public resulting in numerous bike donations. Our students have been busy repairing bikes and have been selling them to raise money for UNHCR.

Please click on the link below to read The Examiner newspaper article.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who made donations to the Bob's Bikes program. It is through your generous support that this program remains a valuable weekly experience for our students.

Riverside Primary School Visit

On Wednesday, 25 November Grade 4 students from Riverside Primary school came to visit Launceston Big Picture School. They had seen the article in The Examiner and were interested in finding out more about Bob’s Bikes.   Blake Gelston, Will Hamill, Pheonix Sierra Goss and Billy Watson were the stars of the show.  In small groups the Riverside students got to experience first hand how to check a tyre, tube, and brakes, how to  deal with rust and the best way to clean a bike. They also go to pump up tyres and help prepare bikes for sale.  Bob gave them an introduction to where the bikes come from, how the bikes are sold and where the money goes to.  The students were eager to help and loved spending time with our students, sharing stories about their own bikes.  When asked what the best part of their day had been “BIKES” was the resounding answer.  Jorja Sigtenhorst did an amazing job showing the students the rest of the school and making them excited about high school. 

Congratulations to all involved on representing our school in such a positive way and doing a wonderful job.

Sam Stewart is a Year 11 student from Rob’s Advisory who has a passion for cooking and learning about the hospitality industry.  During the year Sam has been engaged in a number of LTI placements learning from Ritual Coffee and Croplines Coffee Roaster who both source and roast their own coffee beans, to cooking on a weekly basis with Robin Ellenberger baking in the schools kitchen.  Over the past three weeks Sam has been immensely involved with assisting chef Hayden at the Devils Door Café.  Sam’s plan for 2021 is to continue following his interest in the food and hospitality area.

We want your help for our Learning Through Internship Program!

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

Mel Van Asperen
LTI Co-ordinator

On Friday, 20^th November the Grade 11 and 12 students headed out for the final school day of the year. They went to the Launceston Lanes for bowling where students and advisors broke into teams of 4 – 6 to have two games. Everyone had a lot of fun and there were many strikes and spares bowled on the day. Students then walked to Punchbowl to indulge in a barbecue lunch with thanks to Sam Stuart and Adrian Stabb for cooking, and Hayden Crook and Rob for organising the food. A great day was had by all.

Students are encouraged to nominate other students who have shown Aspiration, Courage, Respect or Growth. Winners receive a voucher from the Railway Café. Our weekly winners are:

Mikayla Smith – for Growth by working extremely hard on our Art Advisory Project.

Billy Watson – for Growth by always striving to improve his work in the technology group.

Kit Aitken - for Aspiration by striving to be her best at school work.

Ainsley Pullen - for Aspiration by being a helpful and encouraging mentor to friends.

Billy Watson - for Courage and Growth by putting himself out there for an internship.

Zak Howard - for Courage by showing great leadership.

Beren Fontana - for Respect by being a supportive friend to fellow students.

Tarkyn Howorka - for Respect by being supportive with others artwork.

3. Personalisation: One Student At A Time

With the help of the advisory teacher and parents, each student develops a learning plan that explores their interests and passions, and identifies personal learning goals, authentic project work and wider curriculum requirements.  This plan is reviewed and updated regularly.

4. Authentic Assessment

Each term the students exhibit their portfolios of work to a panel made up of the advisory teacher, family, peers, the mentor, and others from the community.  They provide evidence of progress against their learning goals and they reflect on the process of their learning.

Transport Services

School Absences

Informing School of Student Absences

Your child’s Advisory Teacher records attendance daily using the DoE EduPoint system. Attendance is taken between 8:55am – 9:30am. If your child is going to be absent, you will need to inform the school ASAP - otherwise the EduPoint system automatically marks the absence as ‘Unauthorised-Unexplained’ and this is not altered until communication is received from parents. The preferred method of communication is to send the school an SMS on – 0427 016 460 (this is a short message service only, so you will not be able to ring the school on this number). LBPS admin check the SMS service throughout the day and update any changes to student attendance. You can of course ring the school direct on 6335 1500 and leave a voice message on the answerphone.

Parking

Please be vigilant when parking along the school’s nature strip and footpath during drop off/pick up times - as the City Council are distributing $70 parking fines. Requests to the City Council to withdraw the fines are proving ineffective, as they are unable to alter the State Government standards.

School Holiday Activities

Foster Care program at Baptcare

Foster care is about providing a safe, secure and stable environment for a child or young person when they are unsafe or unable to remain at home.

Baptcare operates a foster care program in Tasmania and we are in need of new foster carers to provide support to children and young people across the state.

Thanks to all students who contributed to the newsletter. If you have something to share in the newsletter please send it through to kat.osign@education.tas.gov.au

Support Staff