Fahan School eNewsletter

Principal's Report

Learning at Fahan School

We have had some wonderful opportunities to delve into learning at a high level at Fahan over this last fortnight. Firstly, we were thrilled to welcome Ms Margery Evans, CEO of Independent Schools Australia (ISA), who visited Fahan School last week with Tony Crehan from Independent Schools Tasmania.

Ms Evans has a wealth of experience and expertise in Australian schooling, education, and government policy relations; and she is highly respected within the national education community.  Ms Evans was most recently the Academic Director of Aga Khan Education Services, headquartered in France, overseeing academic standards and reform across a network of over 200 schools and 95,000 students in multiple countries throughout the developing world. Prior to this Ms Evans was the inaugural CEO of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). Under her leadership AITSL successfully introduced a range of national workforce reforms including Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Principals and initial teacher education programs.

It was a privilege to welcome Ms Evans to Fahan School and she was fulsome in her admiration for, and support of, Fahan School and the learning journey we are on through our strategic plan over the next five years.

As well - all power to our educators in the Junior School! These amazing leaders and teachers are about to embark on an extensive, but very rich, professional learning opportunity with the Australian Curriculum, Reporting and Assessment Authority (ACARA).  Fahan School is one of only five schools in Tasmania, and the only independent school, to have been selected to participate in ACARA’s Australian Curriculum Review F–6 Intensive Engagement Project. 

You may be aware that, in June 2020, education ministers agreed it was timely to review the Foundation – Year 10 Australian Curriculum, which has been in place since 2015. In preparation for the review, ACARA consulted widely with key education stakeholders and groups to define the approach and scope of the review. This work informed the Terms of Reference and the program of research has benchmarked the Australian Curriculum against the curricula of Singapore, Finland, British Columbia and New Zealand, and feedback was sought from state and territory jurisdictions through an annual monitoring process. 

This work found that the Australian Curriculum is consistent with some of the best curricula internationally and is well-regarded by teachers across the country; but that it needs refining, updating and ‘decluttering’ to better support teachers and students. Consultation on the revised Australian Curriculum opens on 29 April 2021 for ten weeks and closes on 8 July. As part of the Australian Curriculum Review consultation, ACARA is facilitating an Intensive F–6 engagement strategy to test out the manageability of the consultation versions of the F–6 Australian Curriculum. ACARA will support Fahan to undertake the development of scope and sequence plans using the consultation curriculum, and our amazing team of classroom teachers and specialists in the Junior School will plan a whole school scope and sequence plan across all learning areas and all year levels F–6. 

We wish Head of Junior School, Amanda Evans, and all Junior School staff the very best for this project – it will be a busy and rewarding time, I am sure.

Spirit at Fahan School

I was delighted to be copied in to this email from Dr Manson to our mountain bikers after their recent competition – it illustrates Fahan spirit at its very best and, with Dr Manson’s permission granted to print, is most definitely worth sharing with you all!

What a great day yesterday. You all did so well and there were so many highlights. Well done for some amazing individual results but most of all well done for your positive attitude and kindness throughout the day. For those who stopped and helped the young rider from St Helen’s - thank you! The organisers of the event wanted me to also pass on their thanks for your thoughtfulness and quick response. 

The uphills sounded brutal but you all kept riding and finished with a smile. The sea of orange tops at the start line speaks volumes to your willingness to “have a go”. 

As a team we managed to come away with first position overall (boys and girls combined) - not bad for a small girls’ school from the South. 

We came third overall in U15 girls. We won the U17 girls’ category and, Jorja Cooper, alone you managed to put us in third place in the U19 female category.

Well done, I’m so proud of you all.

A very big thank you to our parent helpers, Anna and Simon, to Timmy for his help on the day, and to Jayde for everything else - and getting us there and home safely!

Congratulations girls!

Community at Fahan School

Last Wednesday morning it was a treat to welcome six alumni back to Fahan for our inaugural Fahan Alumni and Year 12 2021 Networking Breakfast. Six current Year 12 students joined us for conversation about taking their first steps out of Fahan School when they leave us at the end of the year. The alumni present were so very generous in sharing their experience and wisdom with our current students over the course of the morning, and I know that many concerns about leaving Fahan were quelled. In the words of Year 12 student, Emily Roberts:

While many of us were tired from the early rise, the invigorating conversation over the alumni networking breakfast made it definitely worth the wake. The visiting women were all recent graduates and had acquired a diverse array of experiences following their years at Fahan. While some were working in intense fields like nursing or construction management, others told us their luck of making a career out of their hobbies and passions such as sailing and theatre, and all of them remarked on the unexpected nature of their situations, which was a great comfort to those of us students who are still uncertain of our desires for the future. Encouraging living in the present and prioritising your self-worth, the ladies were generous with advice and descriptions of their lives post-School; a benevolent deliberation to better equip us for moving into adulthood. It was a remarkable event with pleasant company, only enriched with the comforts of fresh pastries and a warm heater to fight the winter cold. I am certain the following breakfasts will provide clarity and support for the other girls just as much as it did inaugurally for us.

Best wishes,
Penny Curran-Peters

Learning about Persuasive Texts

Year 3 students have been learning how to write very convincing persuasive texts using different language devices to help persuade the reader of their opinion. When asked to write about about why I should give them one-hour of outside games, they came up with some extraordinarily superb (and humorous) reasons.

We should have an hour of outdoor games because we will get good fresh air and nice sunlight. It is good to have those things because sunlight keeps us warm and we need fresh air. - Emilia Landman

I think Year 3 have earned it. We have worked so hard and put all our effort into our work! And we try so hard every day. - Molly Sowell

In my opinion we should definitely get outdoor games. What fun it would be! I think that it is very necessary to give us one hour of outdoor games. - Gertie Bradford

We must get exercise. We need to stretch our arms and legs and probably every part of our bodies. Your body will thank you for doing exercise. - Scarlett Doherty

It will certainly be loads of fun! If we are having lots of fun we will go faster and if we go faster then we would fit more games in. - Lottie Kingston

We need an hour of outdoor games because it would be fun. We are at school five days a week and it would be mean not to let us have an hour of outdoor games. - Abbey Lodge

We deserve an hour of outdoor games because in the classroom we are like baby koalas stuck in cages that have been stuck ever since we were born. You wouldn’t want that would you? - Bianca Lampkin-Smith

We need some fresh air instead of breathing in the monstrous smoke from the iPad stand. You should know by now that smoke is bad for your lungs. Aren’t you excited that we can go outside? I positively think it is unfair to not let us. - Rose Page

I think we deserve an hour of outside games. Seriously, I think we are going to turn into zombie kids, and zombie kids really bite! - Olivia Robertson

We will learn teamwork, cooperation and friendship. It will help us make new friends and for us to be able to work together. - Rosie Briggs

I’d love it if you would let us have an hour of outside play. We would do anything for it. Just let us have an hour of outside play. - Amélie Clark

Mrs Kathryn Lumsden-Steel

Learning about Debating

Years 5 and 6 had their first debate on Thursday 6 May. It was held at Hutchins and the topic was ‘Summer is better than Winter’. Only one of the two teams debated. The team who debated consisted of Keira Lynch, Rose Pullinger and myself (Sophie Bradfield). We were the negative team; Keira was first speaker, Rose was third speaker and I was second speaker.

We had two weeks to prepare a three minute debate each. Our team’s reasons to support our argument were that bugs come out in Summer, dangerous animals hibernate in Winter, Summer weather is uncomfortable, bushfires are common in Summer, how bad sunburn is and the importance of rain in Winter. Our team met up during some lunchtimes to discuss how we were going with our debates. We also met up the day before the debate. The other team made a debate as the affirmative team and we had a practice debate against each other. We were all prepared for the debate the next day.

The morning of the debate came and I think I wasn’t the only one who was nervous for that afternoon. We arrived at Hutchins where the boys were really helpful by assisting us to find the room where the debate was to take place. At 4:00pm, the debate started. The affirmative team was Hutchins and some of their arguments were that there are more fresh fruits in Summer, more tourists in Summer and more diseases are in Winter.

All through the debate it was very close. Once we had finished the debate, the adjudicators took almost five minutes to talk and decide which team won. They talked about how the negative team didn't have as many arguments as the affirmative team but we had more rebuttals than the other team. It was a very close call in the end, but Fahan won! We won by two points and the win was made possible by our rebuttals. We were able to get personal feedback from the adjudicators once the debate was over. This was the first debate for all of us against a different school.

I would like to thank Mrs Evans and Mrs Wright for organising and helping us all with the debate and coming to the debates to support us.

Sophie Bradfield

Learning about DNA and Genetics

Year 10 Science

In 10O Science, we have been studying DNA, genetics and different modes of inheritance. To put our knowledge to the test, last week, we created Mama and Papa Gardner, a childless vegetable couple, about to have babies. Each pair of students created a vegetable baby for Mama and Papa by selecting one allele (form of a gene) from Mama and one from Papa for each of five traits. The traits we looked at were gender, eye colour, arm length, foot colour and hair colour. All of the vegetable babies turned out slightly differently to each other. This activity helped us to consolidate our understanding of meiosis (the type of cell division that produces eggs and sperm), and gave us the opportunity to see how certain traits are inherited differently from others. It also gave us the chance to be creative, and it was a lot of fun! We have also recently each constructed a model of DNA as a homework task, which gave us the opportunity to become familiar with how the structure of DNA is related to its function as a blueprint for living things.

Year 10s have also studied cell division as part of genetics. Cell division is the way in which cells either reproduce exact copies of themselves for growth and repair (mitosis cell division) or produce sex cells for sexual reproduction (meiosis cell division). Some girls completed an optional creative task in which they were asked to imagine they were a commentator for their favourite sport. The needed to create a "play by play" account of what happens to a skin cell when it has been given the starting whistle to undergo mitosis. Here is an example of their great work:

So far, all our DNA strands are in a jumble, most likely discussing their next move. What will it be? Ah, yes, as predicted, they begin to shift into their next formation; a line in which the centrioles pull the neatly formed strands away from each other. And they've split! The single strands of DNA have halved on either side, attached to their side by the force of the centrioles. And in three... two... they've done it! Swift as usual, we really can't expect anything else from this team of 46 strong. In their final stage of play known as telophase, they have divided to become two new cells. - Roxanne Padas

Ms Felicity Jacobs

On Tuesday 18 May, the Year 4 girls undertook Orienteering at Risdon Brook Dam. Mr Hodgman, Jayde, Gemma and Steve came with us. We learnt about orienteering and how to improve our map reading skills. On our 4.3km walk we saw two wallabies. We were so excited to see a park bench with a lovely view of the lake which we thought would be a great spot to eat lunch, but Jayde made us walk another kilometre to eat. The maps had lots of contour lines, so it was a bit confusing, but we nailed it !

Chloe East and Charlotte Bradfield

Learning about States of Matter

Each Thursday, we have Science with Mrs Dalton in Lab 2. We have been learning about States of Matter and Non-Newtonian fluids. This week we made Oobleck, which consists of 1 cup of cornflour, ¼ cup of water and 5 drops of food dye. You need a bowl, spoon and measuring cup to make it.

Let us tell you about what Oobleck is. It is a liquid and a solid at the same time. It is a liquid without pressure applied but turns into a solid once there is pressure upon it. This is what a non-Newtonian fluid is. Other non-Newtonian fluids are toothpaste and custard.

I liked making Oobleck because I loved feeling it. Evelyn was in my group as well as Grace and Maisey. I made Oobleck with cornflour, water and food dye. - Jemima

I loved to punch it. Essie, Felicity and Alex were in my group. We all took turns making it. It was a really interesting experiment and process to watch. - Ava

It was fun to play with and to make. Keira, Lucy and Coco were in my group. - Myla

By Essie Burke, Keira Lynch and Lucy Stoneman, Year 5.

Learning about Migration

This week, Year 6 students presented their migration stories to Year 5 and each other. Some of us dressed up and others brought food. We set our desks up in a circular formation and had the Year 5s listen to us talk about our fictional migration story. Some even got the opportunity to try some homemade food! We all had our own display made up of special items from our home country, some food and a map of our journey. Some of us made our letters and maps look old by using tea, coffee or burning the edges. We each had a different story from a different country and era.

Having a mini exhibition gave us the opportunity to share our migration story with many different people and each time we felt we got better at explaining our story.

By Evelyn Bullard and Georgia Grant

Every year, across Australia, students participate in National Simultaneous Storytime. This year’s featured author was Philip Bunting. In preparation for Storytime, we read other wonderful titles written and illustrated by Philip Bunting. “Philip's work deliberately encourages playful interaction between the reader and child, allowing his books to create a platform for genuine intergenerational engagement and fun. He believes that the more fun the child has during their early reading experiences, the more likely they will be to return to books, improve their emergent literacy skills, and later find joy in reading and learning.”

In Vertical groups we designed and constructed our own spaceships out of loose parts. During Library, we explored what it would be like to work as an astronaut. We completed simple jigsaw puzzles while wearing gardening gloves, tried to memorise random numbers, and recall them in reverse, and worked with a friend to test our visual recall.

On Wednesday, students from Kinder to Year 2, along with Junior School Chair, Hannah Steele, came together for an intergalactic experience with Give Me Some Space read by Deputy Principal, Mr (Captain) Machin. It was a sensational morning!

Mrs Meg Denman

Spirit - Q&A with Nic Goodwolf, Art Teacher

What made you choose your career?
I have a number of hats on in my life. Teaching is one of them. I taught students in Aboriginal communities, taught printmaking, ceramics, building design and construction for years to people of all ages.

Of all aspects of my working life, teaching is the one part I am most proud of. Maybe because schooling for me was not an easy journey when I was young, so being an educator today, and to be there for students and inspire them, fills my heart and soul every day.

Of what are you most proud?
In life it is my three boys, now young men. Who they have become and what extraordinary humans they are. In School it is the students who love coming to the studio and are able to spread their (imaginary) wings.

What do you enjoy most about working at Fahan?

I enjoyed two things the most and they are:

1. I love to be a catalyst for our students. I love to help build strong resilient young women.

2. Working with my fellow educators is a humbling experience every day.

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
I am a maker.

Spirit - Big Sister, Little Sister

On Wednesday we held our second Big Sister, Little Sister (BSLS) event. We timed this event to coincide with National Simultaneous Storytime to share a literacy experience across the School. The book was Give Me Space by Phillip Bunting. BSLS groups met in House areas in the Junior School and the House Chairs read the story to the groups. Junior School Chair, Hannah Steele, had also organised spaced-themed colouring activities and alien finger puppets for the girls to decorate and cut out with their older sisters. It was a lovely opportunity to participate in Library and Information Week with our BSLS families and we look forward to the next BSLS event next term.

Dr Alison Manson

A few weeks ago, students from Year 8 and Year 12 Franklin pastoral care groups met for a Q+A session to talk about all things school, friendships and academic expectations. Year 8 students had the chance to prepare questions during the previous week and were ready to get insight and advice from senior students.

The time shared was rich in anecdotes, honest advice and inspiring reflections.

Talking with the Year 12s was a great experience because they offered great advice, especially when it came to managing work. They told us that work is manageable as long as we switch off phones and takes breaks. They also said that doing sport is very important and clears your mind from tests and work. - Audrey Bullard

Speaking with the Year 12s was a great experience for me as I learnt about how I can manage my time well so that I still have time to do sports and spend time with family and friends. I know now that I should chose to do subjects that I would enjoy and not do them because my friends are. - Poppy Leditschke

It was great hearing all their advice given by the Year 12s, specifically about learning to deal with lots of school work. I found it really helpful and valuable that one of them said to never drop a sport for school and it’s not that hard to use time management skills and get on top of all the homework. Another Year 12 said that it’s very beneficial to get ahead in certain classes and to use study time well. - Talia Lynch

We all enjoyed speaking with the Year 12 and we learnt to never drop the things we love like sports and our hobbies. They said that time management is extremely important and to use your study time well. Another thing we all took away from this experience was not to choose things your friends are choosing and to be independent. - Estella Manson, Tess Lawson, Nell Terry and Penny Geappen

Mrs Virginie von Savageri

Spirit - Junior School Sport

Netball

All teams have started the season well. We collapsed the three Years 5/6 teams into two due to tight numbers and a clash with debating and our Years 3 and 4 girls did especially well playing their first games, coming to grips with a lot of rules and restrictions on where they can go and what they can do. Our outdoor game last week fell victim to the weather (which had miraculously cleared by 3.40pm!) but the girls demonstrated the benefit of training and their hard work certainly paid off.

Once again a big thank you goes to our coaches (game day and training) and managers, Emma Doherty, Mrs Gath, Vanessa Regan, Carla East, Mrs McTaggart and Mr Hodgman.

Hockey

The hockey season is well underway. Our teams have competed strongly and have been training hard during the week. Our Open Primary, although tight on numbers, has produced some excellent results and Tony Bradfield has the Half Field team working as a finely tuned, well-oiled machine!

House Cross Country

This event was run on Thursday in breezy conditions at Nutgrove Beach. The girls did a fantastic job. I was so impressed to see so many girls willing to attempt the long course and put themselves out there. Thank you to those parents who were able to get to Nutgrove and support the girls and to the staff who officiated on the day.

Below is a summary of the results and a team for the JSSATIS Interschool Cross Country will now be selected and will commence training. Additionally, any girls who do not make this squad, but have enjoyed their running, are eligible to participate in the Primary All Schools Cross Country event later in the term. The only prerequisite is that they must train with the interschool team in order to be ready for what is a tough day and a challenging course.

	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6
1	Maggie Davies	Evie Essex	Jemima Geappen	Ava Mignanelli
2	Rose Page	Clare Stewart	Grace Costelloe	Aviya Lincolne-Lomax
3	Bianca Lampkin-Smith	Ruby Pilkington	Rosie Nation	Sasha Lampkin-Smith

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

Cross Country

The SSATIS Cross Country will be held at Soldiers Memorial Oval, Soldiers Walk, Queens Domain on Thursday 30 May. Below is an estimated time for each race –

10.15am – Under 16 Girls (4kms)
11.00am – Under 13 Girls (3kms)
11.40am – Under 14 Girls (3kms)
12.20am – Under 15 Girls (3kms)
12.55pm – Open Girls (4kms)

Parents are welcome to attend as spectators and must sign in on arrival or use the Check In TAS App. A map of the course is on the Tree on the Sport Online page in the Cross Country section.

Girls selected in the team have been training and we look forward to some great running. This year there has been a big focus on effort and running your own personal best. The feeling of pride and achievement when crossing the finish line, knowing that you have just run the best that you can, is something that can motivate girls. Also, the enjoyment from competing, running with your friends and ‘having a go’ is always paramount. I hope that each girl can finish their race with these feelings and be proud of their efforts.

The Symmons Plains Cross Country will be held on Tuesday 29 June. A team for this event will be selected after the SSATIS Cross Country.

Cross country/fitness trainings continue every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:00am – 7:50am, meeting at the Fahan gym. There are also Wednesday and Friday lunchtime sessions at 12:45pm. These training sessions will continue throughout Term 2.

Volleyball

This term Fahan has three teams competing against other SSATIS schools in volleyball. They train on Wednesdays and play every Friday afternoon. Thank you to Dr East, Ms Lutzow and Ms Harcourt for coaching these teams.

Hockey

The 1st and 2nd Grade Hockey teams have been playing great hockey. The 1^st Grade team play every Thursday afternoon and the 2^nd grade team play on a Monday afternoon at the Hockey Centre at 4:15pm. It is great to see Year 12 girls joining the 2^nd Grade team and playing hockey for the first time.

Waterpolo

Fahan has three teams competing in the Southern Tasmanian Waterpolo Competition this term. We have a Years 7/8 team, a Years 9/10 team and a Years 11/12 team. Girls began their games in week 3 this term and play every Friday night. Thank you to all the team coaches and managers who train the teams on a Tuesday night and coach them at the game on Friday.

Australian Rules Football

The First Grade Australian Rules Football team have played two games this term. They convincingly defeated St Mary’s in their first game and played a tough game against Guilford Young College this week, but were defeated in the last minutes. Next week they play against Friends’ at Bell St at 4:00pm.

The Years 7/8 team are also competing this term. They girls are all playing great footy and were undefeated until this week where they lost by the slimmest of margins!

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

Community -Light Up Vanuatu

Junior School girls are working together to help solve energy poverty in Vanuatu and have recently pitched a number of fabulous ideas to the School. As young and empowered philanthropists our Fahan girls have been baking in the Food Hub and selling cookies, planning special events such as an upcoming free dress day for K-6, a sausage sizzle and a special event for Years 3-6s, “ Dinner in the Dark".

We are encouraging interested philanthropists to access the crowd funding page. Donations can be made by clicking the link below.

Save the Dates:

Wednesday 30 June : Free Dress Day for Kinder to Year 6 with gold coin donation
Friday 2 July: Dinner in the Dark - Pizza and Movie night to conclude the end of term for Years 3-6

Further information will be distributed to families closer to the time via EdSmart.

Mrs Amanda Evans
Head of Junior School

Donate to Fahan's Light Up Vanuatu Efforts

Community - Keeping in Touch in the Junior School

You may have noticed over the recent weeks that we have been keeping in close contact with our Fahan families regarding matters that have seen your daughters require extra care. If your daughter requires care for a minor or more serious injury you will receive an email from staff or a phone call from Reception and we thank you for working together with us to ensure that we can provide the best possible care for your daughters.

As a reminder, if your daughter is returning to School with an injury or medical condition that requires special care please contact me at evansa@fahan.tas.edu.au and I will be able to assist with any return to school plans that may be needed.

Should your daughter require medication at School you can find the appropriate forms here: https://fahanschool.cspace.net.au/MedicationAdministrationCopy

Mrs Amanda Evans
Head of Junior School

Community -Small Business Launch

9/10 Business Studies

The 9/10 Business Studies class worked hard to formulate a concept for a sustainable product to form a small business that was launched. The girls decided to capitalise on Mothers' Day by launching their product – a jar of handmade, sustainable coffee scrub – just in time for last minute gift purchases. This involved naming the business – Coco Coffee – as well as preparing and producing the product in our Food Hub. The girls also had to make their own advertisements, decide upon a price point, and then decide which charity the funds would go towards. We selected Skin Cancer Tasmania and were very pleased to raise $156.70 in support of this charity. We sold out of our product in record time. Well done, girls!

Mrs Lisa Seddon

Community - News from Nateby

This week has been National Boarding Week across Australia. At Fahan, we have celebrated this in many different ways. Activities have included:

A special dinner out, followed by ice cream at Mures
Our girls wearing their new necklaces which read ‘One Family, Many Hearts’ and is a fitting sentiment for our boarding community
The Year 6 girls touring the Boarding House (see Darcy’s report below)
Head Boarder, Sarah, and youngest boarder, Darcy, going to talk to the Year 2 girls and answer the questions they had about boarding
The boarders inviting a day school friend to dinner – thanks for joining us Aviya (Year 6), Aria (Year 10) and Alice (Year 12)
Bella, Fahan’s Community Chair, spending two nights with us to gain an insight into what life in the Boarding House is like! Bella and Sarah will report on her experience in the next newsletter.

Ms Fiona Short
Head of Boarding

On Tuesday, Year 6 came into the Boarding House and had a look around. We did a scavenger hunt in the Dining Room where we had to find answers to questions about the Boarding House. It was a bit weird showing all my friends my bedroom and having everyone in there! I think that most of them thought that boarding looks pretty cool!

Darcy McShane – Year 6

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

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

A Fortnight at Fahan - Term 2, 21 May 2021