A Fortnight at Fahan - Term 3, 4 August 2023

Principal's Report

Welcome to Term 3! I hope that you all had a restful break.

We have had a busy start to the term, with Year 1 celebrating 100 days at School, excursions to the Waterworks for our youngest students and our annual House Swimming Carnival in the Senior School. School spirit was clearly evident at this event and days like these form part of the fabric of our memories as we move beyond school. Our Year 12s were certainly excellent role models for our younger students, with strong participation from them all.

In exciting news, due to the number of girls waitlisted for entry into Year 7 in 2025, we have been working to provide an opportunity for these students to join the Fahan School Community.

After much consideration, we are delighted to share the Fahan School Board has approved an additional class for this cohort from Year 7 in 2025, creating a wonderful opportunity for new students to join our thriving School Community.  It is important to note this opportunity is exclusive to Year 7, 2025, and while we celebrate this growth, there are no plans to increase the size of any other year group at this time and maximum class sizes will not change.

This fortnight I would like to acknowledge Timothy Bugg AM, who passed away on 23 July 2023. Tim was Chair of the Fahan School Board from 1998 until 2005, when Tim Waley was Principal. Previously, Tim had been the President of the Parents and Friends Association. Tim is remembered as being intelligent, thoughtful and strategic in his leadership. His knowledge of the law and his calm, sensible approach was appreciated by all who worked with him. Tim was dedicated to Fahan over many years and his contribution to the success of our School was significant. Indeed, his contribution to the community in general was substantial and he will be greatly missed by so many.

Best wishes
Meg Lawson

Learning in the Winter Vacation Program

Our Winter Vacation Program saw our children enjoy a large range of provocative and fun experiences.

We continue to honour our children by designing a program that supports their continued learning and development, providing a range of rich enquiry-based activities that scaffold from their interests and ideas.

These activities included a wonderful walk down to the foreshore at Sandy Beach for a natural beach exploration day, where the children explored rock climbing, digging, crafting in the sand, exploring the lookout areas, and learning about the early settlement of Sandy Bay.

We have also begun a collaborative art project using recycled fabric, textiles and wool to design and recreate our outdoor environment here at Fahan as a mural collage.

This will continue to be worked on for the next few weeks by the after-school children and then proudly displayed in our room.

Many of our families joined us for a Winter Warmers Day where we all enjoyed cooking and eating fruit-themed treats for afternoon tea.  We treasure these opportunities to extend on our community connectedness.

Canvas painting, Yoga, and Origami were also activities offered.

Early childhood is a time for developing conceptual thinking as it is a platform for the later development of more complex concepts and ideas. Being able to offer our reflective program to support children’s learning during vacation care for an extended range of age groups is our privilege.

Lisa, Kelly, Vivienne and Moya
Lady Gowrie Fahan Education and Care Team

Learning in the new Boat Playground

Junior School students returned to School to discover a wonderful addition to our playground that incorporated loose parts and a speedboat. The students could not wait to explore this area and the noise levels were a great indication of their joy as they ran around! Using the steering wheel on the boat was by far the most popular activity, followed by throwing the big, black buoy.

Kindergarten students were equally delighted and the boat provided much adventurous role-play:

It’s a real boat!
And a real engine!
Hop in the boat.
Get in the boat.
We are fishing.
Quick, pull up the fish trap.
The boat is sinking!
I have patched the hole.
Abandon ship!
We forgot the life jackets!
Help me, Captain!
Quick, pull up the anchor!
We are the rescuers.
Swim to a rock!
Oh No! It’s a shark attack!

Thank you to our Gardening and Facilities Team for working with us to create another wonderful learning space.

Learning about Indoor Rock Climbing

On Wednesday, Year 3 students enjoyed a fun excursion to the indoor rock climbing venue, Rockit, in Hobart.  This excursion provided students with the opportnity to use their fundamental movement skills in challenging and adventurous activities.  The venue provided a controlled environment for us to step out of our comfort zones and extend ourselves.  It was also a wonderful opportunity for team building and developing an awareness of the importance of supporting each other as we faced new challenges on the walls and in the tunnels.  Great work, everyone!

Mrs Susan Wright

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Learning about Science in Year 4

In Science, Year 4 students have been learning about the force of friction. On Thursday, they conducted an experiment on how friction affects the distance travelled of a toy car. Their methodology was by rolling a car off a ramp on three different surfaces; carpet, Lino and a School vest, and measured the distance the car travelled. They discovered the School vest was bumpy, had the most amount of friction and the car travelled the least distance. The Lino was smooth, created little friction and the car travelled the greatest distance.

Mr David Hodgman

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Learning about Antarctic Animals

In Year 4 we have been learning about Antarctic animals. Our Scientist in School Scientist, Dr Clive McMahon, had previously visited us and talked about his work with the United Nations on Antarctic animals like seals turtles, krill and phytoplankton. We then considered what would happen if all the krill disappeared.  Using our life-sized collages of our Antarctic animals that we made in Art, and with the help of Mr Summers and the drones, we created an enormous food chain.  

Mr David Hodgman

Learning with Students from Tokyo Jogakkan Primary School

What a wonderful week of excitement and learning about a new culture in Year 6! It was lovely to welcome back TJK School to Fahan. The bond between the girls from both schools is special and lifelong. Fahan students were very curious about the school and home life of TJK. What better way to learn from those who live there?

I really enjoyed Culture Day with all the activities we did. I especially enjoyed the Tea Ceremony.  Anna

I found putting the kimonos on one of my favourite parts. Everyone looked amazing. Of course, I enjoyed hanging out with the TJK girls!  Eliza

I loved learning about the Japanese culture and how different it is to the Australian culture. I really enjoyed learning the Japanese fan dance because it was so different to any other dance style I have seen before, and it was so much fun to do.  Chiara

It was such a fun and enjoyable experience. My favorite day was the Culture Day and learning about their traditions, such as Japanese dancing, kimonos and the Tea Ceremony.  Poppy Davis

I enjoyed learning about all the different traditions they have such as the Tea Ceremony, kimonos and dances. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to engage with people from another country.  Hannah

Mrs Ingrid Heather and Mrs Kathryn Lumsden-Steel

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Spirit of 100 Days of School

This past week saw us reach the 100^th day of School for the year!  As part of our Mathematics program, the Year 1 class has been carefully counting each day and learning how to group the numbers into tens and ones. We celebrated this very important milestone with a 100 Party which comprised of games, dancing and even a cake!

Now that we have reached 100, our counting includes ‘hundreds’ and our discussions about place value have broadened. The students are hoping that there might be enough days left in the School year so we can reach 200 (and have ANOTHER celebration!).

Mrs Sarah Parsons 

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Spirit of Vertical Groups

Late last term in Vertical Groups, the Gardening and Forest School students gathered olives from some of our many olive trees.  Over the holidays we brined the olives ready for eating.

In our first Vertical Group session for this term, the Gardening Group bottled up our olives.  Some of us thought they tasted delicious!

Afterwards, we read All Through the Year by Jane Godwin.  We then roamed in our beautiful gardens, looking for signs of Spring.  We gathered flowers and foliage and delighted our families with a big bunch of flowers after School. 

Mrs Sophie Baxter

Spirit of Acknowledgement

Year 5W commenced Term 3 with an Acknowledgement of Country. We discussed the importance of acknowledging country and recognising the original custodians. Our conversation then extended to recognising the importance of giving and receiving acknowledgement. We discussed the definition of acknowledgement and how it related to our lives. Students were asked to think about the following:

1. How does your family acknowledge you and the things that you do?
2. What do you do to acknowledge the people in your life?
3. Write about a time when you were not acknowledged, how did it made you feel?
4. Now that you have a greater understanding of the importance of acknowledging others, what will you try to do differently?

Initially the students found it difficult to think about acknowledgement and its importance, then they realised how different their day would be if they were not acknowledged by anyone or for anything that they did.  It was an open, honest and productive discussion.

What will you do differently?

I will get to know different people and try to improve at looking people in the eye while they talk to me because I feel it’s respectful.    Issy

I think that I will try to say more things like “good morning!” and saying “hi” or ask “How was your day?”  I will ask more questions. Pippa

I’ll try and say “Hi! How are you?” to more people and just smile and wave at them or I might even be able to introduce myself to other teachers. Evie

I will try and acknowledge people I don’t know as well and look at people when I speak. Abbey

I will try to acknowledge people if they ask me a question and I will say pardon or could your repeat that and have a respectful tone. Pixie

Ask people how their day was instead of them asking me. Talk to different people, make people laugh and smile more. Say sorry first and be the bigger person. Molly

I will try to acknowledge more people, hold eye contact and have a full conversation. Catherine

I will try to answer questions that I get asked. Greet everybody even when they don’t greet me. Saige

I’ll probably try to pay more attention and when I am tired and can’t be bothered to do anything, I will try harder to engage.  Lucy

When they do something that they’re really proud of, not just congratulate them but smile and maybe even clap. Emilia

Even if I haven’t gone as well and someone else has, I will try to still say “good job!”   Maddy

I will ask people different questions and acknowledge when they are leaving. Olive

I will try to make more conversation with different people. Give them love when they look sad. Gertie

Acknowledge my family more in the mornings and cheer louder if someone gets a goal. Olivia

I will try to smile more and get to know more people so I can acknowledge them better next time. Scarlett

I will continue to respect people and acknowledge their achievements. Molly J

I might try to say “good morning” and “How are you?” more often. Rosie

Mrs Susan Wright

Spirit of Book Week in the Junior School

This term, students will share, evaluate and celebrate short-listed books for this year’s Children’s Book Week award. On Wednesday 23 August, students from Pre-Kinder to Year 6 are invited to dress up as their favourite fairy-tale or book character.

This year, the Junior School will host The Great Book Swap. This event is a fantastic way to celebrate reading locally, learn more about Indigenous Languages and culture, and raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Each student is invited to donate one or two books in good quality in the next few weeks leading up to Book Week. During Book Week, students will be invited to make a gold coin donation for each book swapped in The Great Book Swap!

Mrs Meg Denman and Ms Sue Cole

Spirit of Year 7 Friendship Fair

As you may have seen in previous newsletters, the Year 7 Health classes have been working collaboratively to prepare for their ‘Fahan Friendship Fair’. Over several weeks, students worked in small groups to develop a creative response to a question. The questions were derived from the Year 7 students’ own responses to a Friendship Survey they undertook, early in Term 2:

• What key qualities and behaviours contribute to strong and lasting friendships in Year 7 and beyond?
• How can we help students to understand the impact that words and actions can have on other people?
• How can we help students to be more inclusive of others and why is this important?
• What factors contribute to a sense of belonging in Year 7 at Fahan and how can we foster a supportive environment for everyone?
• How can we empower students to be honest about their feelings, but still be kind?
• How can we help students manage their changing friendships?
• How can you help your friends manage their emotions and how can you manage your own?
• What are the impacts of exclusion in digital spaces and how can we promote inclusivity and belonging online?
• How can Year 7s navigate conflicts in their friendships, and what strategies can they use to move forward in a positive way?

It has been a pleasure to see the groups communicate and collaborate with each other. This group project work has given students the opportunity to practise their decision-making skills and develop strategies for dealing with conflicting ideas. They have expanded their critical and creative thinking and learnt how to put ideas into action. The creative responses included: board games, role plays, quizzes, poetry, admiration awards, brochures and collaborative art works.

On Monday 31 July we welcomed the Years 3, 4 and 5 students to our Friendship Fair and it was wonderful to see how well they received the Year 7 projects. Thank you for being such an appreciative audience! We look forward to visiting the Year 6 students later in the term and sharing our experiences and ideas with them.

Here are some reflections from the Year 7 students about what they thought went well with their Friendship Fair Project:

Our group worked really well together and listened to everyone’s ideas. Grace

I think we all contributed and worked really well together.  Abbie

Our overall presentation went well. I think that a lot of people really liked our quiz.  Myla

I think coming up with our idea went well.  Emily

A lot of people came to our station and were interested.  Eloise

Our end result went well, as we were struggling with our first plan.  Coco

We played to our strengths and worked well as a team. Islay

Congratulations on an outstanding group effort, Year 7. You should all be very proud of yourselves!

Ms Fiona Short and Ms Allison Williamson

Spirit of Alliançe Francaise Competition Awards Ceremony

On Monday night (during that terrible storm!) these brave souls came out to Bellerive Primary School to be awarded their prizes in the annual Alliance Française Competition for poetry recitals, reading comprehension and/or conversation. Prizes were awarded by the Honorary French Consul in Tasmania, Mr David Shelley, and the President of the Alliance Francaise, Ms Caroline Jackson.

Pictured are:

James Wilkinson TASC2 - 1^st Conversation

Sophie Bury TASC2 – 3^rd Poem recital

Grace Costelloe Year 7 – 1^st Poem recital

Felicity Morgan Year 7 equal 2^nd Poem recital (left before photo was taken)

Tiger Somerville Year 9 – 1^st Poem recital & 2^nd Reading Comprehension

Lilie von Savageri Year 8 – 2^nd Poem recital

Chiara Challis Year 6 – Honourable Mention

Anna McCallum Year 6 – 3^rd Poem recital

Audrey Cox Year 6 - Honourable Mention

First place winners in each category recited their poem to the audience (well done Tiger & Grace!) and some school groups also entertained the audience with French songs during the evening.

Thank you very much to those who were able to attend the ceremony. Absent prize-winners on the night were Kate Edwards (Year 9 – 3^rd Poem recital) and Sarah Berner (Year 8 – Hors Concours Prize) who will be presented with their prizes at a School Assembly in due course.

Madame (Christine) Palmer

Spirit - Junior School Sport

Primary All Schools Cross Country

The results for the Teams section of the Primary All Schools Cross Country arrived over the school holidays.  This is a nice addition to this event and something the girls can strive for as a collective, in what is an individual sport.  We had great success last year and followed that up in 2023 with some more excellent results.

10 yr old girls – 2^nd
12 yr old girls – 3rd

Junior Basketball

Training for the upcoming Basketball roster has commenced, with the first games held on Thursday.  Rosters have been distributed.  Below is information that was distributed via Edsmart regarding games at the Uni Gym and Thursday afternoon tea.

Dear Parent/s,

The Junior Basketball rosters have now been released.  They are slightly different to previous years, an increase in teams (42 teams across Years 3-6 girls) and a decrease in School Gym availability has resulted in there being a 4^th fixture on some nights in gyms.

As always, if there are any issues with availability or absences, then please either let your coach or myself know and we will make the appropriate team adjustments.

During the course of the basketball roster, some of the games may require an early departure from School at 3:10pm, which are listed below:

Years 3/4

24/08 Rd. 4     Fahan White v MCC Navy @ Uni Gym
31/08 Rd. 5.    Fahan Blue v MCC Navy @ MCC Outdoor Crt
31/08 Rd. 5     Fahan Orange v MCC Gold @ Uni Gym

Years 5/6

21/09 Rd. 8    Fahan Blue v MCC Gold @ Uni Gym

Importantly, if you intend to take advantage of this option, please email the class teacher prior to recess on the day of the game, to ensure that they have time to see the communication. For safety reasons, we will need the girls to still be collected via the front of School drop off/pick up area.

Lastly, afternoon tea will be provided for the basketballers each Thursday in the Junior School Library.  Please note, that this is only for those teams in the games prior to 6:00pm, who may find it hard to get home and then get back to Fahan.  On the two instances where there are 6:00pm games, we are hoping that those girls will in fact head home and then return for their game (we cannot cater for 40+ hungry girls!).  The understanding would be that the girls have something to eat and relax in the Library and then make their way over to the gym closer to their game time.  This will be supervised.

Junior AFL

Unfortunately, the start of the AFL sessions were postponed on Monday with the coach unwell but we will aim to get going in Week 3.

Years 1 and 2

When:  12:45pm - 1:30pm
Where: Bottom oval
Equipment:  PE uniform.  No mouthguards required as this will be skill-based activities without tackling.

Junior House Athletics

When: Thursday 21 September
Time: 10:30am to 2:30pm
Where: Domain

JSSATIS Athletics

When: Thursday 9 November (Back up day Monday 13 Nov)
Time: 10:00am to 2:30pm
Where: Domain

Mr Tim Dale
Junior Sport Coordinator
dalet@fahan.tas.edu.au

Spirit - Senior School Sport

Term 3 Sport 

Term 3 Sport has begun with Fahan teams competing in rosters for Basketball, Hockey, Netball, Badminton, Soccer, and Lawn Bowls. We wish our teams the best for the season. Thank you to all coaches and team managers.  

Inter House Swimming Carnival 

The Inter-House Swimming Carnival was held at The Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre on Thursday 3 August. It was an exciting day with plenty of House spirit and participation. Congratulations to Fenton for winning the House Swimming Cup. 

Congratulations also to the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Swimming Champions.

Junior Swimming Champion

1          Islay Smith                   48 points
2          Maisey Smith              38 points
3          Sophie Unwin             34 points

Intermediate Swimming Champion 

1          Ella Baird                     60 points
2          Chloe Ross                  56 points
3          Pia Abberton              46 points

Senior Swimming Champion 

1          Ashleigh Kim              48 points
1          Georgette Pridmore   48 points
3          Olivia Sampson           30 points
3          Matilda Cocker           30 points

Best wishes to Ava Mignanelli who travelled to New Zealand this week to represent Tasmania in the Short Course Swimming Championships.  Ava will be racing the 1500m, 800m, 400m, 200m and 100m freestyle events and is the youngest member in the team. We look forward to hearing her results.

Rowing 

A reminder that the Rowing Information Evening will be held on Wednesday 16 August in the TM Hall from 5:30pm – 6:30pm. This Information Evening is for parents and students who are interested in Rowing in the 2023/2024 Rowing season.  

Cross Country

Congratulations to Lucy Meikle who has been selected to represent Tasmania in the National Cross Country Championships. Lucy will travel to Mt Stromlo in Canberra to compete on Friday 25 August. Best wishes, Lucy!

Australian Rules Football

During the July school holidays, Zoe Mansfield and Lucy Meikle were selected to play in the Tasmanian Devils Gala Day at Prospect Park, Launceston. Congratulations to Lucy and Zoe on their selection.

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

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Community - P&F Dinner

Community - Invitation to Parent Information Session about Vaping

Fahan School, in conjunction with The Hutchins School and St Michael’s Collegiate, invite Years 7 to 12 parents/guardians to an informative panel presentation about vaping and supporting our students.

This will be held at 6:00pm on Tuesday 29 August at the Performing Arts Centre in the Senior School Campus of St Michael’s Collegiate. 

This is a free event, but we ask that you book tickets using the Trybooking link provided here. 

Please find attached an invitation with further details. We hope to see you there. 

Mr Chris Summers
Deputy Principal

Community - Lights, Camera, Fahan School Car Park 🎬 🚗 🎥

ABC TV’s exciting new drama series, Bay of Fires, launched a couple of weeks ago and in case you missed it, the Fahan School car park featured in the very first episode! In June last year, we were approached by the show’s production team and on a late Winter afternoon, a bus load of crew and a truckload of equipment arrived to set up for the scenes.

The star of the show, Marta Dusseldorp, displayed her impressive acting talents as she delivered dramatic performances in each take. The scenes filmed at Fahan formed part of a nail-biting storyline and our School was the perfect backdrop for this gripping episode. We captured some behind-the-scenes photos and footage which pictures the incredible number of crew and equipment that is required to film just one scene of a TV show!

View behind the scenes footage here

Community - National Science Quiz

Fun for the whole family!

Do you and your family love a quiz? Of course, you do!

Enter and play along at home with the livestreamed National Science Quiz on Sunday 27 August for the chance to win cash prizes. Hosted by Charlie Pickering, the quiz is always a lot of fun!

Groups of students can enter together as a Fahan team by clicking here.

Families and friends can enter as a general team.

Find more information by clicking here.

If you’d like to see what the practice questions are like or submit a question of your own, click here.

The full event guide can be found by clicking here.

Good luck!

Ms Felicity Jacobs

Important Notes

Second Hand Uniform

The Uniform Shop is no longer accepting second hand uniform items for sale.

School Canteen Contact 

As previously advised, Amelia Edwards has taken over from Birgitta Browning as the Food Services Manager and can be contacted at edwardsa2@fahan.tas.edu.au for any Canteen-related queries.  

2024 Term Dates

2024 Term Dates have been finalised and are available through the link on the left panel of the newsletters, the School website, Fahan App (under links on the bottom right hand corner) and below.

Community - Student Absence

Notification of student absence as a result of illness should be emailed to absence@fahan.tas.edu.au, advised by telephone on 6225 1064 or submitted through the Fahan App. 

You are reminded that if foreseen absences are unavoidable, such as holidays during term time, a Request for Absence form should be completed and returned to the School.

Community Notices

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Fahan School Bus Service

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