Our Learning

Cross-Campus Learning | Year 3 and Year 8 Students Working Together

By Debbie Taylor, Year 6 Teacher and 

K-6 Co-ordinator

Year 3 students have been learning about growth and responsibility and they have been caring for their veggie patch since March with great success. Weekly harvesting has been a highlight as well as caring for every plant’s needs.

The Year 8 Design Technology class offered to help enhance their gardens. The Year 3 students designed some ideas to share. The Year 8 students met the younger students to share their vegetable gardens, where realistic possibilities were discussed.

We asked the students 'do you feel that this cross-campus project is worthwhile? Please explain your response' and below are some comments from some students.

Year 3 Comments: 

Ida May – "I like taking care of my plants and helping them grow. Having my Year 8 friend make something for our gardening space is a rare opportunity and very exciting."

Mae – "The enjoyment for me is realising when one of your crops are ready.  The birdhouse Selby made for me looks very cool and it is just like my design. I have seen a progress photo and I can’t wait until the class brings it over."

Zhuxuan - "I liked the Year 8 students coming to our class and building for us because we never have had anyone build for us before."

Maria – "I designed a wind chime and I discussed my idea with a Year 8 boy.  I am hoping my design is not too difficult to make. I liked how he didn’t say he couldn’t build it, so it might happen."

Milli – "I liked the idea of High School students wanting to make things for us. It made me feel excited."

Vaani – "I enjoyed when they were talking about what is possible and when they were improvising to make my idea better."

Isabelle - "They actually listened to us and they didn’t say 'you can’t do this, you can’t do that, it isn’t possible'. It made me feel good because I really knew they were listening."

Roy – "I was really grateful that they behaved well, they were good role models to us and they were really nice."

Year 8 Comments: 

Charlie - "My group and I decided to build a birdhouse to place on the fence in the Year 3 garden.  We decided to build this to attract small native birds into the garden, we made sure to make a hole small enough so that it doesn't attract big birds that may be harmful to the crops.  I believe this project is worthwhile.  This is because it has been fun to build and will be a nice addition to the Year 3 garden."

Caitlin - "What are you creating and why? We are creating a gnome house, because one of the students requested it and we thought it was really genuine."

"Yes we do, we believe it’s worthwhile because it allows the students to have an opportunity to decorate the garden and request things they really want in it. And we are able to help with it. We are very excited to show you guys our gnome house and we hope you enjoy."

Selby - "I really like the working across campus idea because we get to build things for other people and make them happy."

The children are now waiting excitedly to see what has been possible and what materials and designs they have used.

Year 7 Connections

By John Hoggart, Acting Deputy Head, High School Curriculum. Photos: Nicola Collins

Students in Year 7 have a full day per week for Connections. The program has been going strong for over 20 years and allows extended, transdisciplinary learning to take place. Activities and rich authentic learning tasks connect to subject curriculum, general capabilities and health and well-being outcomes. The focus in the last two weeks of Term 2 was Global Perspectives - connecting the current language for each class to the School’s Purpose and Concern Statement - ‘We seek to help our students develop as people who will … hold a global perspective...’ This means having an understanding of cultures and customs, recognising and accepting difference and diversity, and working for a better world. Language teachers planned a range of experiences to celebrate food, culture, sports, activities and customs. Students were highly engaged and enjoyed the chance to be immersed in the culture. Backhouse experienced a German Winterfest, making and decorating traditional German butter cookies, making lanterns, and rollerblading and scootering at Woody’s (as the ice skating rink has closed down). The day finished with making some punch, eating the cookies and singing the lantern song.

Year 7 Connections | Global Perspective Days 

By Christine Wittlinger, Head of Languages

As part of the Year 7 Connections program, the Global Perspective Days give students the opportunity to experience aspects of the target language’s culture for a full day. At the beginning and at the end of each day, the students were encouraged to look at the Friends’ School’s Purpose and Concern Statement and explore why having a ‘Global Perspective’ may enrich their outlook on life and increase their appreciation for different cultures. Please see below the short summaries of what happened, and enjoy the photos that illustrate the fun on the six Global Perspective Days.

Chinese

By Helen Hutchinson and Monique Gall

The Chinese Day focused on the celebration of 春节（chūnjié), Chinese New Year and China’s cultural influence. Year 7 Fry and Walker started the day with learning Chinese calligraphy（书法 shūfă）and draw the character for 福 (fú - fortune) followed by some paper cutting art. Making dumplings （饺子 jiǎozi) was the highlight of the day and students learned the lucky food to have for this traditional festival. The students also enjoyed a performance by the Chinese Music Ensemble and tried out some Chinese costumes. They finished the day learning a contemporary Chinese dance to Little Apple, a pop song that was a hit throughout Asia.

French

By Katharine Podmore

The French Day gave students in Oats an insight into some traditional and delicious food from francophone countries and the less well-known sport of jeu de paume (real tennis). Students had the opportunity to make crêpes, gaufres (waffles) and croque-monsieur (fancy French ham and cheese toasties) as well as setting up a restaurant and ordering their food in French from the teachers. In the afternoon, the students went to the Hobart Real Tennis Club and learnt about the history of the sport, learned the basic skills and played a series of small doubles games.

German 

By Liesa Winkler and Britta Hartmann

The German Day focused on the theme of Winterfest (winter celebrations), and aimed to foster an understanding of cultures and customs, recognising and accepting difference and diversity, and promoting empathy. A range of experiences were planned to celebrate food, culture, sports, activities and customs. Students were highly engaged and enjoyed the chance to be immersed in the cultural practices. They engaged in making and decorating traditional Plätzchen (German butter cookies), making Laternen (lanterns), and Rollschuhfahren (rollerblading and scootering) at Woody’s (as the ice skating rink has closed down). The day finished with making some Kinderpunsch (punch), eating the cookies and singing the lantern song.

Japanese 

By Marissa King

The Japanese Day focussed on the Japanese school event, undoukai, or Sports Day. This day promotes teamwork and the benefits of physical activity through novelty events and cheering. In the morning, students created hachimaki headbands to wear while competing in these events. They also designed their kyaraben (character bento boxes) before creating some wonderfully cute and creative bento to eat for lunch. In the afternoon, the students practised their cheering in Japanese and tried a huge range of undoukai events, including mukade kyousou (caterpillar race), dekapan (huge pants race), tamaire (bird’s nest toss), daruma hakobi (daruma stretchers) and oodama korogashi (big ball roll). 

2022 Simpson Prize Competition | Runner-up – Tasmania

We are delighted that Eve Cooper was selected by the judging panel as Runner-up of the 2022 Simpson Prize Competition for Tasmania. Many outstanding entries were submitted and Eve is to be congratulated on this achievement.

The Simpson Prize is a national essay competition open to all Years 9 and 10 students in Australia, that focuses on the legacy of ANZAC. 

Read more about the Prize and listen to Eve's insightful interview with ABC Radio, here

Term 2 Outdoor Education

By Tim Whelan, Co-ordinator of Outdoor Education

It was with anticipation that Outdoor Education moved firmly back to overnight journeys in Term 2.  Michael Francis led the way with a magnificent week-long sea kayaking program to Schouten Island.  Whilst on the Island the group headed off for a snorkel.  A sneaky morsel was spotted some distance below, possibly hidden by the swaying colour-matched weed.  Not a moment later the critter was fetched and placed neatly on the rocky shore.  Now that dinner had low carbon miles!

We thank the Year 9 cohort for their tenacity and resilience leading into the camp week.  Because of COVID-19, our Year 9 students had day trip outdoor education programs from Year 7 onwards.  For many of our students it was a big step to week-long exploring and adventuring.  The cohort split into numerous small groups with most camps having aquatic and land-based elements.  Snow immediately before the program laid a fine view for the Walls of Jerusalem team.  They had the most spectacular blue sky experience with the mountain covered from tip to foot with snow.  We were very glad the students were well prepared as this allowed them to get the most from the experience.  In contrast, other groups were riding across north-east Tasmania, rafting the Derwent, walking at Freycinet and sea kayaking at Salt Water River.    

The Clemes Outdoor Experience program continues with the Climbing group going to Freycinet to explore the 60m high granite slabs.  Of course the whales migrating north were a real distraction and it is good to see their numbers increase each year.  We were also stunned to see five planets and our moon in alignment across the dawn sky.  We are not sure when this will happen again but it was a value adding event.

The Outdoor Leadership class is soon to depart for an expedition, making a circumference around the Mersey River.  The planning the students have completed in class shall be tested in this real world experience.  It will be interesting to hear how flexible and adaptable the students need to be as their leadership skills expand.

VET Outdoor Recreation

By Tim Whelan, Co-ordinator of Outdoor Education

The VET sector aims to deliver job-ready graduates so it is pleasing to note where many of the class of 2020 have ended up.  Ben is working as a freelance guide and will soon be heading to NZ to further his studies.  Matt is planning for a mountaineering and climbing expedition to NZ later this year.  Edith is working as a surf instructor in Canada, whilst Oli is a first year building apprentice.  Harry works in the electrical industry and Lucy has found her niche in child care.  This is true success with each and every student etching their own path towards training and employment.

This year's class continues to develop hard skills in mountain biking, navigation, bushwalking, kayaking and snorkelling.  We look forward to the second half of the year where students will use skillsets in complex environments and scenarios.  We aim to extend and challenge our students so they may surprise themselves and be more comfortable moving forward.  The group will be heading to The Walls of Jerusalem where snow and winter alpine camping skills may be required.  It will be so pleasing to hear where this year's class ends up.

Crunching Numbers

By Jason McDonald, Head of Mathematics

In the world of Mathematics at The Friends’ School we have many co-curricular options for our students, from the Maths Association of Tasmania’s (MAT) annual Problem Solving Competition in Term 1, to the Maths Challenge (also in Term 1), to the Maths Enrichment in Term 2, to the Australian Mathematics Competition in Term 3, to the Maths Relays (also in Term 3) as well as the Urquhart competition for our Year 12 students in Term 4. 

Read more here

German Celebration Day

By Charlotte Cox (Year 10) 

On Wednesday the 25th of May, High School students celebrated German Celebration Day by enjoying German food, a friendly game of soccer and some karaoke in the Drama Theatre. The Years 9 and 10 German students volunteered their fourth period and lunch break to prepare and sell some delicious Bratwurst sausages with Sauerkraut, Berliners (jam-filled donuts) and chocolate milk, all of which sold out within the first 20 minutes of break! 

Many students chose to either come down to the oval to participate in, or support, the soccer match. Germany loves soccer and is tied in second place for most World Cups won per country. Both Germany and Italy have won 4 World Cups with Brazil being the only country to beat this score and win 5. Germany’s appreciation for the sport is why currently one out of every three Germans are part of a soccer team. 

Along with soccer, karaoke was a fun activity students were invited to participate in at lunch. While having less to do with German history, everyone still enjoyed the chance to sing along to their favourite German songs. Students got to listen to German upbeat songs such as Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil, Nena’s 99 Luftballons, Ein Hoch auf uns by Andreas Bourani and had a go at singing along. Seeing such a positive attitude to embracing German culture was great and this German Day was definitely the best one so far! 

Morris Japanese Festival 

By Wickins Sensei and Lucas Sensei

On Thursday 23 June, the shinkansen (bullet train) set off, filled with tourists (students) eager to explore Nihon (Japan). This year’s festival titled 'Nihon no Ryouko’ (our Japanese trip) saw our Kindergarten to Year 5 students ‘travelling’ around ‘regions’ (classrooms) of Japan and experiencing Japanese cultural experiences led by our Year 6 students (our Japanese hosts). Year 6 students researched and created engaging activities for all students to participate in and tried to demonstrate ‘omotenashi’ (integrity, commitment and entertainment) as they did so. 

The day began with an opening ceremony where our intrepid tourists  set out on their trip and witnessed a performance of taiko drumming, a Japanese strings performance and Year 2 singers farewelling Tasmania and welcoming Japan. Class groups then set off, led by their tour guides (teachers), equipped with flag and itinerary. The tourists were invited to try many activities common in Japan such as anime drawing, visits to the cat cafe, sakura - cherry blossom creation, ski jumps in Hokkaido, fishing in Okinawa, Pokemon origami, dressing up and Japanese games. We were lucky enough to be supported in our travel with the provision of an optional rice ball snack 'Three Region Onigiri’ designed to match famous flavours for each region. Thank you to the Painter family and their team for creating and making these.

We were lucky enough to be able to view an exhibition of ‘Hina matsuri’ dolls (Girl’s Day Dolls) set up by Nicole Parums for the day. Many students also found Snorlax in their travels.

The day finished with all tourists participating in the ’Soran Bushi’ festival dance on the bottom green.

Arigatou gozaimasu,

Wickins Sensei and Lucas Sensei

Success in the Ethics Olympiad

By Ben Felstead, Teacher of Philosophy & Theory of Knowledge

On May 6th, five Friends’ students from Years 10 and 12 (Ellie Huxtable, Tarcin Marriott, Elizabeth Ralph, Yong Cheng Vajra, Grace Winspear) won the gold medal in the Tasmanian Senior Schools Ethics Olympiad and, early in Term 3, will participate in the International Final.

Read the event details and the things that judges look for when assessing the ‘Ethletes’ here

Japanese Poster Competition

By Dana Hutchinson, Japanese Teacher

The first prize winners of the Japanese Poster Competition for 2022 are:

Olivia Lang, Years 9-10 Division

Alice Evans, Years 7-8 Division

Art2Words Writing Prize

Sahansa Udawatta (Year 10), Harriet Carter (Year 10), Isabel Adams (Year 9), Isla Younger (Year 9) were presented with their prizes from the Hobart Bookshop for their winning entries in the Art2Words writing prize in early June.

You can read more about the Art2Words Writing Prize here

Woodbridge Marine Discovery Centre Visit

Year 10 Biological Science students recently had the opportunity to participate in some field work around the Global Systems unit being studied in class. Students from all three classes visited the Woodbridge Marine Discovery Center, where they spent the day exploring concepts such as animal adaptations in the touch tanks (as well as patting the sharks and skates), conducting experiments on the impacts of climate change as well as collecting raw data on the temperature, pH level, turbidity and oxygen concentration of the water at various depths. Students then sorted some of the organisms that were dredged up by the boat, and identified some of the range extension species that have migrated south as a consequence of warming waters in the south. Students had a fantastic day full of exciting and relevant learning opportunities and experiences.

Year 2 Students Explore kunanyi / Mount Wellington

Late in Term 2, Year 2 students visited kunanyi / Mount Wellington to explore how various cultures and individuals express themselves through the Arts. This is part of the Year 2 Outdoor Education program and was facilitated by the Year 2 teachers and our Outdoor Education teacher, Lauren Stranger. As you can see, some impressive artworks were created using surrounding, loose sticks, stones and leaves.

Friends' Writers Festival

The English Faculty hosted the first ever Friends' Writers Festival: 'Quiet Roar' during Term 2, giving students and staff an invaluable opportunity to work with writers through a range of workshops, talks, readings and a panel discussion. Students learned about writers, their words and their voices, about important issues and new ways of storytelling. Many thanks to the English Faculty for the huge effort in organising and coordinating this initiative.

Read more about the festival and the theme here

The Circus Comes to Morris Primary Years

On Tuesday 28 June, Morris Primary Years’ students viewed and participated in some fun and challenging circus activities. The performance was all about building resilience, trying difficult things and persevering. Friends’ Early Learning to Year 6 students watched the performance then Years 5 and 6 students attempted to learn to juggle with scarves. Within 30 minutes more than half the students had succeeded.

Nyrstar Visit

During Term 2, all Year 12 TCE Chemistry students had a valuable site tour of the Nyrstar Australia - Hobart Smelter (aka the Zinc Works). These students are currently studying electrochemistry, this includes electrolysis, which is one of the processes Nyrstar uses to produce zinc metal from ore concentrates.

Cross-Campus Workshop

Head Students Shriya Anil and Gryff Connah facilitated a collaborative workshop on June 15 with other student leaders from Clemes (Years 11 and 12), High School and Morris Primary Years. Students heard about the School's plans to reduce emissions in the environment and become carbon neutral as well as work on the Reconciliation Action Plan with First Nation's People. Following presentations on these two initiatives, students brainstormed ideas to put goals into action across the school.

It was terrific to see tangible examples of the Purpose and Concerns at work, with students showing they are thinking clearly, acting with integrity, being sensitive to the needs of others and the environment, being strong in service and having a global perspective.

Cyber Safety Presentation

Year 12 students heard a presentation from Australia's foremost Cyber Safety expert, Susan McLean on June 9. Susan worked for 27 years with Victoria Police in the area of cyber crime and now consults with government, business and schools. Students learned strategies to stay safe online, including protecting their digital footprint, how to recognise and combat cyber bullying, avoiding being a victim of a scam and legal responsibilities with social media and sexting. Thank you Susan for your wonderful and informative presentation.

Pathway Activities

During Term 2, Year 10 students have been learning about their pathway opportunities, including, mock interviews, a careers expo and pathways sessions.

In addition, the subject and course selection evening provided a chance for Year 10 and Year 11 students and parents/carers to find out more information about the subjects/courses that are being offered in 2023, and to speak with teachers about these different courses.

One very important life skill is that of communication, which is an integral part of the Year 10 Health program. Mock interviews provide students with the experience of being interviewed by members of our community to assist them in developing their skills.

The careers expo was a terrific opportunity for students to make connections with their learning and their future pathways.

At the Pathways Sessions, Year 10 students were introduced to TCE, VET and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) for Years 11 and 12, by Jane Morrison, Joni Chuter and Sarah Walker. The students also heard from Year 12 students who shared their journey, experiences and insights. Alongside these three sessions, Phil Rogers (Director of Teaching & Learning) chatted about the life skills they will require going forward.

As a school, we are uniquely placed to support our students to challenge themselves academically whilst being supported fully in a caring and nurturing environment that provides an important bridge between school and adult life.

Thanks to all the School community members who were involved in providing their time, advice and expertise for our students.