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Newsletter 8 18 December 2024

Principal’s Report

Dear families,

This year has been outstanding for our school community.

Annual data about our school’s recent achievements and improvement trend indicates our school is performing at a high standard and is continuing to trend upwards. The Family and Staff Satisfaction Survey indicated positive responses about our school above the TAS average and we succeeded in reaching our target of achieving above all schools in PAT Reading and PAT Mathematics, with significant growth.

Last week at our Presentation Evening we celebrated the outstanding achievements of numerous students and honoured our exceptional staff, whose dedication and hard work have been vital to our success this year.

Congratulations to the recipients of our Academic Excellence Awards for each year level. Year 7 Mabel Halley, Year 8 Evie Bellchambers and Sophie Rong, Year 9 Shomik Sinha and Year 10 Dux Award recipient Macy Deegan.

Throughout the year we have been working closely with local industries, the Mersey Leven Collective and our Year 10 cohort to determine how we can support learners to stay in school to Year 12 and attain their TCE. As a consequence, we have personalised our 2025 Year 11 and 12 Program to match the needs of a growing industry and student interest. We are excited to announce we have an additional 30 students continuing their education at DHS into Year 11 and 12. Students will be able to study fulltime on-site at DHS in a very much sought after, Cert 2 in Resources and Infrastructure Work Preparation (Civil Construction) and Learning through Internship.

We have secured funding for $46 000 from Vocational Learning for the acquisition of construction equipment for the Cert 2 in Resources and Infrastructure Work Preparation Pathway.

This week we celebrate our Year 10 students and wish them every success as they transition to Year 11 or enter the workforce.

We also farewell staff members Ms Lesley Jolly, Miss Kate Hambleton and Miss Tess Maxwell.
Ms Jolly is retiring after teaching fulltime for over 40 years. Happy retirement Lesley and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Miss Hambleton has accepted a teaching position with
T4 Engagement@Devonport and Tess will be continuing her teaching degree in Hobart. We wish Kate every success in her new role and thank both Kate and Tess for their contributions to DHS.

Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our families. Your unwavering support and encouragement have been instrumental in our students' success. Thank you for being our partners in education and for your continuous involvement in our school community. Your contributions make a significant difference.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing you in 2025.

Fiona Gaby, Principal

Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize

It brings us great pleasure to announce that Devonport High School's Henry Payne has been awarded the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize, 2025. Henry's entry was outstanding and we look forward to sharing parts of the audio-visual piece at an upcoming assembly. As part of the prize, Henry will travel with five other Tasmanian recipients to Canberra in February, followed by France and Belgium in April. The tour highlight will be the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Villers Bretonneux in France. Henry was presented with the Prize at a ceremony in Hobart.

Macy spoke about her experience as a recipient of the Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize 2024, at the event. The audience was treated to recollections and insights into the group's experiences, from classroom to the Somme, as we heard of friendships formed, soldier's stories uncovered, and memories to last a lifetime. Both Macy and Henry have made Devonport High School very proud. Well done on speaking so confidently, Macy, and best wishes for an exciting 12 months ahead, Henry.