Fahan School eNewsletter

Principal's Report

Winter has certainly hit us this week and we are anticipating a cold, snowy weekend. Last week, Year 6 made the most of their opportunities during camp at Spring Beach and had a wonderful time in cold, but sunny, conditions.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Year 7 plays. Drama has a long tradition at Fahan and last night was a fine example of this. The students presented the audience with two highly enjoyable and interactive plays, demonstrating some fine acting skills. Of course, there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to produce such an event and this is always a team effort. Congratulations are certainly in order for all involved and thank you to Christine Best for all her work with the students.

Last weekend I spent two days meeting with Principals from other independent schools around the state. The chance to meet with others in this context is so valuable for our own personal and professional growth and it allows us to discuss aspects of education, and leadership specifically, which affect us all. Learning for us all is a lifelong process and the opportunity to continually be challenged to improve is one which I certainly appreciate.

Junior School assemblies have commenced and the enthusiasm to share news with families was obvious to all. We are so pleased to be able to welcome parents back into the School, even if this is somewhat limited at this stage.

Congratulations also to the choirs who competed in the the Eisteddfod under the direction of Annie Tremayne. We are proud of all their achievements which you can read about below.

Best wishes
Meg Lawson

Learning about Orienteering

On 7 June, Year 4 went orienteering to Risdon Brook Dam. After a bus ride with lots of singing, we were split into three groups: the 6 Little Gumnuts, the Mushyies and the Oompacas. Once in our groups, we located where we were on the map. While we were doing that, we looked at the legend with lots of different symbols which all had different meanings. There was one for buildings and another one for manmade objects. As we navigated through the track, we looked for the 53 markers. There were so many, we couldn't do it! We looked at gumnuts, pinecones and mushrooms and saw lots of different trees. When we arrived to where we were eating, we jumped over a creek and back over and some of us got our shoes wet. There was an excessively big cliff that was towering over us. Once we finished our lunch, we headed back to get on the bus. We encountered three cute chubby padymelons. Everyone was tired from the long walk.

We had an incredibly fun time and hope to do it again. Thank you Hannah, Jayde, Jen and Mr Hodgman, for organising this great experience.

By Rose Page, Molly Sowell, Amyra Roberts-Prayoga and Scarlett Doherty

On Wednesday 8 June, the Year 5 classes walked the Truganini Track as part of our Outdoor Education experience, recent discussions on National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week.

When we arrived at our starting point in Taroona, we were put into walking groups. Along the way we saw lots of different fungi. There were lots of colours and varieties. We even saw a big purple one and a lovely, delicate blue fungi.

When the trees opened up we stopped for a break and to marvel at the clear, scenic view over to South Arm and beyond. After our quick break, we continued up the track. It was quite muddy in parts and we had a few slips, but we had fun. We had one final break at the Truganini Park, which is a memorial for Truganini and all Aboriginal people.

Once we made it to the Mt Nelson Signal Station, we boarded the Fahan buses and headed back to School.

Thank you to Jayde, Zoe, Hannah, Mrs Wright and Mrs Dalton for organising this walk.

By Poppy Davies, Olivia Grubb and Grace Lincolne-Lomax

Year 6 had a fabulous camp last week in cold, but sunny, conditions. On the first day we went to the Richmond Maze. It was a lot of fun navigating our way through both mazes before enjoying lunch at the Richmond Park. We arrived at Spring Beach Youth Camp around 1:30pm and launched straight into some fun activities - building catapults, learning archery and completing an obstacle course.

After a surprisingly good nights sleep, our second day was another busy one. We broke into two groups and took turns ziplining, kayaking, completing a ropes course and showing our teamwork in activities. There were a lot of brave students facing new challenges and everyone supported each other beautifully.

The final day was bittersweet. Everyone loved camp and wanted to stay for longer, but were also excited to see our families and be back in our own beds. We walked to the beach and shared some thoughtful reflections about our time on camp. We feel like we made memories that will last a lifetime!

We are very grateful to Mrs Gath, Mr Dale and Hannah for joining us on camp. It made it even more special!

I loved the zipline and I think camp was great. Sophie Scott

I will take away many memories, such as ziplining, and I loved all the activities we did. Mathilda Brown

It was very suspenseful waiting to find out the cabin groups because we wanted to know. I was very happy when I found out because the people in my cabin are close friends. Evelyn Chen

Mrs Kathyrn Steel and Mrs Ingrid Heather

Our Year 7 Drama classes presented five dynamic and highly entertaining pantomime performances of Cinders and Absolutely Aesop over two days. The students enjoyed acting the roles from Cinders, an unconventional telling of Cinderella, and Absolutely Aesop, which includes many animals and allowed the students to explore character, voice and movement.

The students learnt many skills through the process of putting together these performances, including memorising lines and listening to direction, learning to work independently and taking responsibility for their roles. The purpose of drama is to learn these skills and think conceptually. Theatre technology, including professional lighting and special effects, was used to enhance the production and resulted in engaging and dynamic performances.

Ms Christine Best

We are very pleased to welcome Jen Cooper to the Outdoor Education team. Jen has been working with us on a casual basis for several years but now joins us part-time. Jen is a highly accomplished guide and instructor in the areas of rockclimbing, snorkelling, sea kayaking, and bushwalking. She loves all things outdoors and uses her background in environmental and marine science to teach and foster a passion for our natural environment. When not inspiring others in the Tasmanian wilderness, Jen spends time building her energy-efficient tiny house.

Years 9/10 Outdoor Adventure Skills

Over the past two weeks, the two Outdoor Adventure Skills classes have been focusing on mountain biking skills and sea kayaking in preparation for their camp later in the month. The mountain biking was conducted at the Domain trails and Kingston MTB Park. Students had the opportunity to practice position on their bikes, cornering, uphill and downhill riding. At Kingston they also spent time on the pump track concentrating on bike handling and building confidence on features such as berms and rollers.

We are very fortunate to have access to Hutchins' sea kayaks, which enables us to conduct skills sessions in preparation of longer journeys. The class had all practiced wet exits (capsize drills) so were confident to learn additional features of sea kayaks such as navigating, steering, signals and safety in dynamic environments. They are looking forward to exploring the Freycinet Peninsula in two weeks' time. In the theory lessons we have been concentrating on survival skills and shelters. The students have been learning how to prioritise shelter, water and food and how to build natural shelters for different conditions.

Dr Alison Manson

The Year 10 Maths Extended class are learning how to investigate.

Can you guess how many red Smarties are in a bag if you are only allowed to pull out one chocolate from the bag, at a time, and record its colour? How many times do you think you would need to repeat the experiment to make your prediction? Are you just going to guess, or are you making a prediction supported by an appropriate strategy?

These skills in investigation will be further developed in Years 11 and 12 through the TASC courses for Mathematics.

Mrs Virginie von Savageri

Spirit of the Eisteddfod

On Monday 30 May, all of our Junior School students from Years 1 to 6, together with a Years 7/8 Choir, competed in the Hobart Eisteddfod at the Federation Concert Hall. We were a little apprehensive given the competition was cancelled at the last moment in 2021 and with COVID cutting a swathe through some of our choirs in the days leading up to the performances. However, on the day, over 200 of our students performed in 7 choirs and sang 14 pieces of choral repertoire!

All performers, from the youngest to the more experienced, sang extremely well with a real connection to the music, engaging the audience and, more importantly, the adjudicator!

The results were as follows:

Years 1/2 Choir - 1st Place

Years 3/4 Choir - 1st Place

Year 6 and under Choir: Fahan Year 6 - 1st Place, Fahan Year 5 - 2nd Place

Year 6 and under Vocal Group: Fahan Year 6 Vocal Group - 1st Place, Fahan Year 5 Vocal Group - 2nd Place

Year 8 and under Choir - Fahan Years 7/8 Choir - 1st Place

In addition to this, two of our Choirs were recognised with special awards. They were:

Fahan Years 7/8 Choir - Best School Choir from Years 7-10

Fahan Year 6 Choir - Award for the Best Primary School Choir

These two Choirs were invited to perform at the Eisteddfod Highlights Concert on Sunday 5 June in the Town Hall. Our Years 7/8 Choir proudly represented Fahan at this concert to perform and receive these awards.

Participation in a competition on this scale requires a team effort. I would sincerely like to thank, first and foremost, our girls and their accommodating teachers together with our other incredible music staff. Thank you Ben Mackey (accompanist), Owen Davies (violin), Ben Brinkoff and Seb Folvig (double bass), who added that special touch of magic to our performances on the day!

Mrs Annie Tremayne

The second round of the Junior Independent School Debating Competition was held on Wednesday 1 June, hosted by Fahan School. Thank you to the Years 3-6 teachers for setting up all the rooms for the event. The Year 5 students managed to field four of our normal five teams as the Year 6 students were all away on camp. The topic for the debate was “Tasmania is better than Queensland.” The event was a wonderful success with eight different schools participating and twenty-four teams working hard to persuade the adjudicators that their team was more convincing.

The Junior School students were very fortunate to have the support of the Senior School. Cian Donoghue (Academic Chair) organised a wonderful group of Senior School students to assist with the important job of adjudicating the debates. Thank you to Cian Donoghue, Nadia Dawson-Damer, Lucia Hunt, Grace Bottomley, Laura Cooper and Junior School Chair, Mia Peatling, for their support and adjudication skills. Olivia Bottomley, Camilla Cox and Imogen Milford also assisted with Chairperson and timekeeping duties.

Thank you to everyone involved. The Junior School debaters demonstrated true Fahan spirit and had a great deal of fun.

Mrs Susan Wright

Spirit - Junior School Sport

Primary All Schools Cross Country

The Junior School will take a big team up to Symmons on 21 June, with currently 39 runners signed up for the event. Training is progressing well, with the only real challenge being having to duck and dive the poor weather we are having!

Below are the details for the Primary All Schools Cross Country.

Depart: 7:45am sharp from Fahan School carpark - Tuesday 21 June. It is possible to encounter road works on the way, so it is imperative that the bus leaves on time.

Return: leaving Symmons Plains after the last race, which is scheduled for 1:00pm (should be on the road by 1:45pm, with arrival at Fahan between 4:15pm and 4:30pm). If it looks like we will be either much earlier or later, we will endeavor to contact parents to let them know.

Junior Hockey and Netball

Our teams are faring well in these two rosters. Whilst our hockey players have a week off due to the long weekend, our netballers had their 5^th game of the season during the week. The girls are training enthusiastically and have made great progress across the course of the season thus far.

Junior Basketball

The Basketball season will be upon us very soon. Registration will be distributed via Edsmart in the coming weeks. I am interested to see how the ‘Jackjumper’ effect translates in numbers wanting to play the game!

Mr Tim Dale
Junior Sport Co-ordinator
dalet@fahan.tas.edu.au

Spirit - Senior School Sport

Cross Country

The Tasmanian All Schools Cross Country will be held on Tuesday 28 June at Symmons Plains. Best wishes to everyone who is representing Fahan at this event.

Information regarding the event is on the Tree on the Senior Sport page.

Training continues every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes at 12:45pm. There is also a Friday morning running session at 7:00-7:50am. Please meet at the Fahan gym for all sessions. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Winter Sports Day

Winter Sports Day will take place on Wednesday 6 July. Students will participate for their House in chosen activities. We have offered students a choice of seven activities which are AFL, netball, diamond cricket, dodgeball, volleyball, flags and run the gauntlet.

Uniform for the day will be sports shoes, House top and School shorts. A mouth guard is neecessary if you have chosen AFL as a sport.

After lunch the traditional Staff v Student soccer match will be held on the oval. Last year the staff were victorious so the students will be looking to win back the bragging rights! At the conclusion of the soccer match, the House Tug-of-War competition will take place on the oval.

Australian Rules Football

Congratulations and best wishes to the First Grade Australian Rules Football team who will play in the SSATIS Grand Final on Wednesday 15 June against GYC. It is fantastic to see our senior team make it to the finals and they are to be commended on their efforts. Thank you to Leigh Crosby who has coached the team, always encouraging them and sharing his footy expertise with them. We look forward to hearing the results.

Term 3 Sport

Students have been sent the Edsmart for Term 3 sport sign ups. These must be submitted by the students by Friday 24 June. Teams will be entered shortly after this date so it is important this slip is submitted on time.

I encourage all students to read the Senior School Sport Agreement attached to the Edsmart which must be acknowledged when submitting the slip. Remember to look carefully at the game days and make sure that you can fully commit to the games and training sessions.

If any parents would be able to manage or coach a team, please contact me. Thank you.

Athletics

The SSATIS and SATIS Athletics Carnivals will be held in Term 3.

SSATIS Carnival – Tuesday 6 September
SATIS Carnival – Saturday 17 September (Launceston)

The squad to represent Fahan at these Carnivals will be selected from the results of the Inter House Athletics Carnival that was held in Term 1 and announced on the Tree in Week 1 of Term 3.

2022 Medleys Leadership Program

Congratulations to Keala Hayes who has been selected to participate in the 2022 Medleys Leadership Program in Melbourne for the year. This opportunity will allow Keala to grow and develop on and off the football field.

The Medley's Program is an elite AFL development pathway program designed to give the participants a unique opportunity to develop their football skills and be exposed to a leadership and cultural program to encourage their personal development.

Keala met her team, trained and played a game last weekend and won by one point. We look forward to hearing more about her involvement.

Mrs Jo Banks-Smith
Senior Sport Co-ordinator
bankssmithj@fahan.tas.edu.au
0428 031 012

Community - Lady Gowrie Fahan Pre-Kinder and After School Care

At our Pre-Kinder and After School Care Program we have been working on a collaborative project to produce a ‘Spring’ themed banner to be displayed at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in July.

Our younger children excitedly completed much of the background with sponges diluted with water to create a washed effect. Our older children have been communicating and working together on the foreground. Each child has been encouraged to add their own ideas and designs to reflect their own voice. During their daily discussions, the children work collaboratively to ensure all their ideas are reflected in the project.

How lovely it is to see the children embrace this project and it has given us some ideas to build on this theme for the children’s future learning and experiences.

Amy Kelp
Lady Gowrie Fahan Education and Care Manager

Community - P&F Fair Friday 30 September

Planning of the 2022 Fahan Fair is now well under way, and I extend my thanks to all of the committee members who have generously committed their time to ensure that this year’s Fair will be a successful and memorable event. One of the most exciting things to come out of our plans so far, is the decision to hold the Fair on a Friday instead of the regular Sunday. This was, as most of you know, put to the community for your votes so that the most popular proposal could be embraced. Commencement of the Fair will take place immediately after School on Friday 30 September and continue into the early hours of the evening. Many novel ideas have been discussed and we promise an event that will be loads of fun, showcase our beautiful School, and raise money along the way.

Between now and the day of the Fair, you will be kept up to date about how our plans are unfolding. You will also be invited to contribute in some way – by providing sponsorship or donations, by running a stall, or by volunteering time on the day. Regarding the latter, one key area of assistance required will be setting up and packing up. We ask you all to please consider the value of a few hours of your time, as it will go a long way to making sure the Fahan Fair will be the best experience for everyone involved. We also ask you to lock in the date – yes, it’s the last day of Term 3, but we’ll make sure it is worth staying around for!

John Padas
Fair Coordinator

Community - Guinea Pig Sitters Needed

Our School guinea pigs, Latte and Toffee, are looking for interested families who would like to take them home and care for them for a weekend. They are very well-behaved and have their own travel carrier for the car and for sleeping in. They also come with their own hay and water container - all they require is some fresh vegetables (cucumber is their favourite), a cardboard box play area, and some love.

If your family is interested, or if you require more information, please email me at jacobsf@fahan.tas.edu.au

Thanks!

Ms Felicity Jacobs

Community - Uniform Reminder

Clothing Pool

Fahan is now accepting clean, current uniform items in good condition for sale in the Clothing Pool. Items can be left at the School Office and must be accompanied by a completed Clothing Pool form, available from the School Office or on the website.

Clothing Pool Form

Community - Lady Gowrie Term 2 Vacation Care Program

Community Notices

Fahan School uniform items can be ordered through the Flexischools website or App (Apple of Google). If a uniform fitting is required, please email Mrs Birgitta Browning at uniformshop@fahan.tas.edu.au

Canteen online orders are taken before school through the Flexischools website or App. A variety of foods are offered and healthy, nutritional choices are encouraged. Parents can also load money onto a student's ID card through the Flexischools App so that students from Year 3 may use their student card to purchase items from the canteen.

Flexischools Website

Fahan School Bus Service

For more information on the Fahan Bus Service, please click here.

A Fortnight at Fahan - Term 2, 10 June 2022

Principal's Report

Learning about Orienteering

Learning about the Truganini Track

Learning about Camp

Learning about Pantomime Performance

Learning about Outdoor Education

Learning how to Investigate in Maths