Our Learning

Outdoor Education in full swing for Term 1

With the beautiful weather and long days, Term 1 is an amazing time for Outdoor Education. 

Check out some of the outdoor activities in the galleries below. 

Our Kindergarten students have been learning how to be good stewards of the earth, starting with some day trips to Taroona beach. 

Our Year 5 students have already experienced a school camp.

Our Year 6 students went on their School camp during the last week of Term, a fantastic way to head into the Easter Break. 

We welcomed our Year 7 students to High School life with their start-of-year camps. 

Here is a reflection on the Year 7 Camp by Asher Poole:

At the start of term, the Year 7's went on camp to Maria Island. When we arrived on Maria Island, we had a demonstration on how to set up the tent. We then set the tents up with our tent partner and settled in. We had an informative session with one of the Parks and Wildlife Rangers who taught us about the Tasmanian Devil program. We had an early tea - BBQ and salad - then spent the rest of the evening on the beach before coming back to the campsite for dessert and bed.

On the second day, we got to choose the walk we wanted to do. I chose to walk Bishop and Clerk, but the other options were to go to the Fossil Cliffs or do the Isthmus Track. It was perfect weather for walking, warm but not too hot. When we got to the top of the mountain, we all sat down for a while and had a look at the amazing view. Once we got back to camp, we played some frisbee, had burritos for tea and went jetty jumping in the sunset. 

On the final day, we packed up our tents and had some free time. We went down to the beach for a Gathering and had lunch while waiting for the ferry to arrive. The ferry ride was a bit wavy, but lots of fun. My favourite part of the camp was jumping off the jetty and going up Bishop and Clerk. I loved how we had so many chances to choose what we wanted to do, and how we got some time to relax. It was a perfect way to start the year, getting to know students and staff. Thank you to all the organisers for such a great camp!

Year 8 students have ventured out on some day trips. 

Year 10 students have been out-and-about.

Clemes students have walked the Walls of Jerusalem. 

Ray Green Public Speaking Competition

The Ray Green Speaking competition is held each year for Year 11 & 12 students to speak on a specific topic. This year the prompt was “Caught in the crossfire” and we were blown away by the depth and passion of the speeches given by five of our brave students.

Ray Green attended The Friends’ School from 1925 to 1934 and was an active member of the Friends’ community. Ray keenly participated in the School Lecturette Competition and the Annual Literary society Competitions each year. Ray died in 1943 in a flying accident and, as a result, his parents established the Ray Green Memorial Prize for students who excelled in public speaking.

The winner of this year's competition was Head Boy, Riley Curtain. 

You can read the full story here and listen to Riley's speech. 

Science & Engineering Competition

Congratulations to our Friends' School team who came in a very impressive second in the State Finals of the Science & Engineering Challenge. We had a full team of 32 students who all got up early to catch the bus at 5.15am on Monday.

The team were coming 5th at half time and ended up second after Launceston Christian College by only 5 points at the end of the day.

An amazing effort by all involved!

The Resilience Project | Esther Hoggart

The Friends' School is proud to be a partnership school with The Resilience Project, who deliver emotionally engaging programs to schools, sports clubs and businesses and provide them with evidence-based, practical strategies to build resilience and happiness.

In the first weeks of school, Year 9 students completed a Wellbeing Survey, designed to help them reflect on the strategies they use when challenges arise. As part of the Year 9 Connections Program, we focus on strategies to assist students to develop resilience, not only to apply to their learning, but in all areas of their life. In Gathering this term, students have been given the opportunity to reflect on the following resilience strategies:

Gratitude - Appreciating what you have, not begrudging what you don’t. 

Empathy - Thinking of the needs of others/kindness.

Mindfulness - Being present in the moment, not becoming distracted by unhelpful or negative thoughts.

Next term, Year 9 HPE will also explore how Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness can be used to support their own learning and development in their Mental Health unit. Year 10 Connections will also be running workshops centred around these three principals, and Year 5 will also be incorporating The Resilience Project resources as part of the IB PYP.

The Resilience Project recognises the pivotal role that parents and carers play in supporting their children to build resilience. They also recognise that parents need help at times; parenthood is not always easy! As a result, they have established the Parents and Carers’ Hub. Here, you will find a number of informative and inspiring videos, as well as additional support materials, guiding parents and carers about how they can best support their children through such an important time in their lives. You can also find additional engaging and informative resources at TRP@Home.

As well as running Wellbeing Workshops for our staff, The Resilience Project is also holding a Connected Parenting Workshop, with Lael Stone, Monday 7 June in The Farrall Centre 6:30 - 8pm. For more information, please click on this link.

The Resilience Project uses evidence-based strategies that are shown to build positive mental health. With regular practice, they increase learning capacity, emotional literacy, physical health and happiness. If you have any questions about The Resilience Project or the Year 9 Connections Programme, please contact Esther Hoggart, Year 9 Coordinator, at ehoggart@friends.tas.edu.au.

TASC Awards

On Tuesday 23 February, five of our 2020 graduating students were recognised at Town Hall for their Outstanding Achievements in their 2020 ATAR and VET results. Recipients of a TASC Outstanding Achievement Award are students who achieve the top Australian Tertiary Ranking (ATAR) in Tasmania with rankings of 99.5 and above in their year 12 results. The four students who were recognised in this section were: Lilli Boucher, Flynn Bradbury, Julia Mountain and Max Powell.

You can read the full story here.

Clemes Academic Awards Afternoon

The Clemes Academic Awards Afternoon was held at The Farrall Centre on Thursday 11 February. We were very fortunate to be able to celebrate our hard-working students in this way.

We were also fortunate to have John Annells and his wife Jeanette in attendance for the awards presentations. John is an Alumni of the School and the grandson of Charles Annells, who is fondly remembered at the School through an Academic Excellence award for the most outstanding Year 11 student in English and at least one Humanities or Languages subject. The 2020 Charles Annells Award recipient was Darcy Webster-Jones.

You can watch the awards afternoon here.