Dear Parents and Carers
Community of Achievers
Term 3 has seen the school celebrate many of our students’ achievements as they strived and succeeded in academics, sports and in extracurricular activities. A BBQ lunch was held to celebrate our students’ achievements. Congratulations to all our staff and students on their amazing efforts!
I hope everyone has a restful break during the two-week Mid-Semester Break. Term 4 will commence for students on Tuesday 10th October 2023. While staff will be back at school on Monday the 9th of October engaging in a Professional Learning Day.
Parent Teacher Interviews
It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers during our Interim Report Term 3 Parent Teacher Interviews discussing their child’s progress so far for Semester 2.
If you were unable to come to the Interim Report Term 3 Parent Teacher Interviews and would like to discuss your child’s progress, please contact individual teachers or the Dripstone Middle School Reception after Tuesday 10th October on 8983 7777 or dripstone.middle@education.nt.gov.au.
School Survey
Thank you to all the parents, students and staff who completed this year’s School Survey. The results help us celebrate what we do well and allows us to identify areas that our students, families and staff would like to see a greater focus on.
Humanities and Science News - Darwin Water Challenge
This term the Year 7 students have been busy working on the Darwin Water Challenge in their Humanities and Science classes. This project was designed to create generational change and broad community awareness around the issue of water consumption in the Darwin region. Year 7 students worked and learned alongside industry professionals from Power & Water, the Bureau of Meteorology and Charles Darwin University to learn about this important community issue and empower students to take an active role in being water smart.
Students took part in a four-week mini unit that explored the importance of water and the challenges facing Darwin’s water supply across multiple curriculum areas, including Science and Geography. They had the opportunity to get hands on and investigate this real-world STEM Challenge before launching their own social action projects in the community. Students then presented their projects to the Power & Water Corporation staff in a culminating event on Wednesday 20th September. Power and Water staff then selected three groups to present at the That’s My Water Expo held on the 18th of October at the Darwin Museum in front of industry professionals. Congratulations the following three groups who were chosen.
Group 1: Zaharias K, Aiden, Amelia D
Group 2: Jorja B, Mary P, Elsa T
Group 3: Sienna S, Archer C
Power & Water staff also gave out a People’s Choice Award. Congratulations to Mariia-Sofia and Evie who received the Power & Water People’s Choice Award.
Students also had the opportunity to see Mark Christie from the Department of Education demonstrating and coding a NOA robot.
Young Change Agent Design Challenge
Congratulations to our 8.1 and 8.2 classes who continued their journey in the Young Change Agent Design Challenge. The Young Change Agent Design Challenge is a design thinking challenge for students that encourages them to focus on a specific theme and use their empathy, ideation, validation and prototyping. Students explore a problem, conduct empathy interviews and develop, validate, prototype and pitch a solution. Thank you to Mrs Fariha Illyas for providing this opportunity for our students.
Maths News - Drone Workshops
This term in Maths, Mrs Fariha Illyas’ students had the pleasure of working with Dr Farha and her team from Charles Darwin University in a Drone Workshop. Students were able to see how drones are a versatile tool for introducing students to STEAM and how they can be integrated across various disciplines. This allowed students to improve their computational thinking and spatial visualization skills.
School Council News - Road Safety
In recent meetings with our Dripstone Middle School Council, concerns were raised over the safety of our students as they crossed roads that are very busy before and after school. This concern was also raised by our Ambassadors who felt that there have been too many near misses as students ride, walk home or walk to the Casuarina Bus Depot.
As a result, a range of surveys have been emailed or sent home to help us gather data around student, staff and parent experiences on these roads that surround Dripstone Middle School. This data will be used in our conversations with Local Council to help come up with better plans and actions for these roads to ensure the safety of our students and families using these roads during peak periods.
Watch this space for an upcoming special out of session Council Meeting that will focus on Road Safety around Dripstone Middle School.
Please contact the Front Office if you have not received a survey on 8983 7777.
Tournament of the Minds Finals News
Our Tournament of the Minds Winning Teams are hard at work fundraising to get to the TOMS Finals in Melbourne. Our teams will be competing in the STEM and Language & Literature Secondary Division.
Thank you to the following companies who have donated and sponsored our teams so far. These include:
R U OK? DAY
During our annual R U OK Day, Dripstone Middle School community acknowledged the day with a range of activities that included a free sausage sizzle for all students and staff, photo booth, cupcakes, cookies, yellow nail polish and face painting activities. Students and staff also wore yellow to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing and engaging our students in conversation around this important topic. A huge thank you to Ms Irini Pikoulos who organised the event and the following staff who supported making this day a success.
At Dripstone Middle School we have a dedicated Wellbeing Team to provide support and advice for all students covering a range of issues they are confronted with as young adolescents. This team is led by Ms Irini Pikoulos and includes School Councillor, Nurse Mary, AEW, Ms Karen, Home Liaison Officer, Mr Laqui, Clontarf Mentors Henry, Sharkie and Luis, STARS Mentors Bianca and Chantelle, Defence Mentor Kat, Police Auxiliary Ms Michelle, Year Level Coordinators, Special Education Teacher, Ms Deb. A big thank you to these staff who often go above and beyond to help and support all our students.
Ambassador News
Dripstone Middle School Ambassadors for Learning and Community have been busy with a range of events from fundraising to the Learning Commission. Our Ambassadors for Learning recently presented their Mid-Year Pitch in preparation for their final pitch in front of the Minister of Education in Term 4 at the Convention Centre.
While our Ambassadors for Community have worked on a range of student events including R U OK? Day and fundraising to support local causes.
STARS News
Congratulations to our Stars Dripstone Academy students who during Women’s Health Week, the young ladies held a morning tea for all female staff and students to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining good health and wellbeing and preventing future health problems for all women and girls in Australia. This is an annual health awareness event held every September that encourages women, communities, and workplaces to get involved by holding events and sharing health messages.
HPE News – Cross Country
Our annual Cross Country event was held recently where students were put into the Top 20 categories by year and Top 10 by age, with points allocated accordingly. The participation numbers were very even across all three houses – with one point per competitor. The Year 7 section was won by Carpentaria, Year 8 by Alexandra and Year 9 by Phoenix. All the place and participation points were then tallied together to get the overall winner being Carpentaria 527 points, Alexandra 489 points were second and Phoenix 485 points was third. There were many records broken on the day. Congratulations to those students and staff, and to all students who competed and to the staff who helped on the day.
HPE News – Cluster Table Tennis
Recently, five teams from Dripstone Middle School participated in a School Sports Table Tennis Cluster Competition. Students had a great day developing their table tennis and social skills. Students were in teams of 4, where they played singles and doubles against other schools. Our 5 teams performed very well with wins. Well done to all participants who attended, their behaviour and sportsmanship was exemplary. Thank you also to Mr. Horatio and Mr. Cilento who supported the students.
School Sport in Review
2023 has been a busy year so far for Interschool Sport. Thank you to all those families and teachers who have been involved. Dripstone Middle School has been very well represented for 11 Gala Days in sports such as Netball, Indoor and Beach Volleyball, Field Hockey, AFL, Soccer, Athletics, Orienteering, Touch Football and Table Tennis.
Students who attended these Gala Days have consistently showcased behaviours that align with the school values of respect, responsibility, and resilience. It was due to these values that we were also able to have some success, regularly placing as one of the top three schools and crowned champs for both the Indoor and Beach Volleyball days for the girls’ and boys’ divisions. Along with this, several outstanding individual efforts throughout the Athletics Gala Day that saw multiple winners which ultimately resulted in Dripstone Middle School finishing second in the overall Middle School Track and Field results. A fantastic effort!
Our school community is looking forward to Term 4 where our school will have the opportunity to demonstrate what great competitors we have both on and off the field for the sports of Squash, Swimming and Basketball.
ICAS Competition
Over the past few weeks, nominated students have participated in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) Competition.
The ICAS Competition is designed to target students higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in: Digital Technologies, Writing, English, Mathematics and Science.
All the best for those students who competed. Results will be available in Term 4.
Year 6 Transition Program to Dripstone Middle School
Term 3 has been a busy term for Transition. Each of our feeder primary schools have participated in an Orientation Day where Year 6 students toured the school, completed a scavenger hunt, and attended taster classes in Maths, Science, English, Humanities and a range of Specialist classes.
Thank you to the Year 7 and 8 School Ambassadors who assisted on these days.
Enrolments Forms and LEAP and RISE Applications are now due.
Community of Achievers
Congratulations to the following students for their achievements:
Congratulations to Zara (Year 8) who stars in the short film ‘Fiasco’, which premiered at the Spark Film Showcase on Friday 22nd of September at the Deckchair Cinema, as part of The Darwin International Film Festival! Well done to Sienna from Year 7 who also featured in the short film!
Congratulations to Summer from Year 7 who recently was recognised for her golfing achievements at Parliament House. These included winning RAAF Golf Open as a Women’s Champion first ever young 12-year-old in the NT, Junior Golf Champion at the Hahn Super Dry 3 Day Gold Open.
Year 9 Transition to CSC
Over the course of this year, our Year 9 students have had opportunities to visit Casuarina Senior College and had visits from CSC Staff to discuss what the enrolment process is and what subjects are available as part of their Transition Program to senior school. Enrolments are now due. Students can drop off their enrolment packs at the Front Office.
School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI)
Recently, The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) to provide free home internet of 12 months for up to 30,000 families with school-aged children who do not currently have a National Broadband Network (NBN) connection at home. I have attached a flyer from the Department of Education which outlines the application process. If you need assistance with completing the form, or have any questions, please contact the school.
Updating Contact Details
Updating your contact details is imperative to improving our communication with families. Please update the school with any changes to personal details. This includes changes to your address, phone and email contacts and workplace details to ensure that the school can contact families in case of emergencies, attendance queries or any general school issues. Parents/caregivers should update their information by contacting the school via Compass notification, email, or telephone call to the school on 8983 7777.
Uniform Reminder
We would like to a remind our community that all students should be wearing full school uniform. This consists of the Dripstone shirt and shorts. Black jackets with the school logo are available from our Front Office. If students are wearing alternative jackets or jumpers, they should be only black with no insignias/logo, nor should they have hoods on them.
Early Departure
Just a reminder that permission for early departure will not be obtained unless the school has authorisation from a parent/caregiver. Parents/caregivers should notify the school, either through a note, Compass notification, email, or telephone call to the school on 8983 7777. When students leave the school, they need to sign out at the Front Office before leaving the grounds.
ATTENDING SCHOOL EVERY DAY
We have been working with the Attendance Team to ensure that all students are attending school every day, five days a week.
If your child is sick, they are to stay home. Please contact the school if your child will be LATE or ABSENT from school by calling the Home Liaison Officer Mr Laqui Papalii on 89837758 or 0437202001; Ms Karen Newman the Aboriginal Education Officer on 89837759, School Stream, email or text message. Please feel free to leave messages on our answer machine.
Please contact the school with the reason for their absence. If your child /student is sick for 3 days or more consecutively, the Department requires a medical certificate to cover the period of absence.