Dear Parents and Carers
Community of Achievers
We hope all families and students had a restful term break and enjoyed our Dry Season weather. We have had an amazing start back to Term 3 as students have quickly settled back into their learning in a positive way. Teachers are excited to see how their students this semester strive to achieve their personal best in all courses and build on their knowledge and skills. We also welcome all our new families, students and teachers who have joined our Dripstone Community.
In the next week, all parents/carers should be receiving Parent Outlines for all subjects via Compass. These outlines will give you a clear insight into what courses your child will be doing as well as assessment items and due dates.
This semester our school community will have many exciting events coming up from Year 7 Information Evenings, Canberra Excursion, Japan Excursion, Science Fair and School Sports to name some. Please lookout for information that can be found in our newsletters, Facebook and emails home.
Staff News
This term we are excited to welcome to our team the following staff:
• Mr Adarsh Charan returns to us and will be teaching Maths.
• Mrs Michelle Koulakis will be teaching Science and English.
• Ms Ramya Mohan will be teaching Science.
- Mr Hirini Murfitt will be the Director of the Dripstone Clontarf Academy.
STUDENT REPORTS
At the end of last term parents and students were able to access a new format of A to E Reports via COMPASS. Teachers focused on growth in student learning as well as assigning an A-E Grade which reflects their achievement level, according to the Australian Curriculum Standards. We hoped the new format was easier to access by parent/carers and students as it was more visual and more student and parent language friendly.
SPORTS VOUCHER SCHEME
All children enrolled in school (Transition to Year 12) are eligible to apply for a $100.00 Sports Voucher per semester. For more information or to apply for the Sports Vouchers Scheme please visit this link.
The next School Council Meeting will take place on Thursday 1st of August 2024, from 5.30pm in the School Library. All students, parents and carers are invited to attend.
At the last meeting, the School Council Members heard from Guest Speaker, Aderyn Chatterton, who is the Executive Director of the Inclusion and Engagement Services at Department of Education, about School Counselling Models, and from our Student Ambassadors, who attended the meeting to provide an update on all the exciting programs and events happening within the school.
STEAM NEWS
As part of the Year 7 Digital Technology course, students have designed their dream house using a selected software. They used a typical Darwin house/lot sizes as part of their design criteria. Students enjoyed this activity and were able to critique each other’s work for improvement. This activity also provided an opportunity for students to learn about Architecture Design and Interior Design.
JAPANESE NEWS
Year 7 Japanese students and Year 8 Music students participated in a traditional Japanese drumming incursion. 太鼓 (taiko) is a group drumming activity which saw students cooperate to create an immense sound. Arigatou to Kiyomi-sensei for giving students this wonderful experience.
The Year 9 Japanese students went on an exciting excursion to Charles Darwin University. The students explored the university while participating in a Japanese scavenger hunt. The students then spoke with Dripstone alumni Dr. Nathan Franklin about the benefits and opportunities of learning foreign languages at school. They also did some Chinese traditional arts with the Confucius Institute too.
The fun continued at Rapid Café where students ordered authentic Japanese in Japanese! Thanks to Aki-san, the owner of Rapid Café, for his patience in taking EVERY order in Japanese.
WORLD MUSIC DAY
To celebrate World Music Day, music students showed off their talents by hosting a Lunchtime Mall Concert. There were multiple different groups who performed cover songs during the lunchtime event, including a Teacher Band, who performed their rendition of ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys.
Students were treated by a surprise performance by former Dripstone student, Heidi, who performed her original song ‘Wait For Me’, alongside our Dripstone Beat Choir students. Heidi’s song will also be sung in the upcoming Beat Festival! Former Dripstone music students Nathan and Eddie also made a guest-appearance to play alongside our Year 7 band.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH
The students in the Duke of Edinburgh Program have been busy engaging in a variety of exciting activities! From sailing adventures to participating in Clean Up Australia Day initiatives, students have been making a positive impact on their environment and within their community.
Students also had the opportunity to explore Lake Bennett by canoeing and learning valuable cooking skills.
We are proud of their perseverance and enthusiasm in taking on the challenges within the Dukes of Edinburgh program.
Keep up the great work, adventurers!
MUSIC NEWS
Dripstone students who are members of the Beat Chior have been busy rehearsing their parts for this year’s Beat Festival ‘Home’! The Beat Festival will be taking place on September 4th – 6th at the Darwin Entertainment Centre - tickets will be available soon via the Darwin Entertainment Centre website!
LIFE CHOICES FOUNDATION
Dripstone welcomed special guest speaker, Touring Car Masters race car driver, Andrew “Fishtail” Fisher, to present The Life Choices Program to the Year 9 co-hort. The evidence-informed program combines real-life stories and statistics and aims to give students the ability to make importance life choices that are right for them.
The one-hour long presentation covered topics such as happiness and wellbeing, vaping, alcohol abuse, self-control, self-image, social media, relationships and road safety.
For more information on the program, please click the link here.
FOOTY NEWS
The Dripstone Middle School Boys AFL team made it into the semi-finals of the competition, and played old rivals Haileybury Rendall School to try and secure a spot in the Grand Final of the comp.
Both sides put on an exciting game on footy, and despite our boys applying the pressure on the opposition to keep the scores close, Haileybury got through to secure a win.
The scores finished at Dripstone 2.5.17 - Haileybury 4.7.31
Well done, boys! We look forward the 2025 competition!
SPORTS NEWS
It has been a busy start of the year in terms of Interschool Sport! We would firstly like to thank all those families and teachers/tutors who have been involved along the way and contributed to our students’ success. Over the last five cluster days, Dripstone often has the most students/teams in attendance for the day!
Sports featured include Netball, Indoor Volleyball, Soccer, Golf and Cross Country. Throughout these events, students consistently demonstrated behaviours aligned with the school’s values of respect, responsibility and resilience. These values were credited for contributing to the school’s success, with notable achievements including top-three finishes and championships in Indoor Volleyball (both boys’ and girls’ divisions), boys’ Soccer, and Golf.
Along with this, several outstanding individual efforts throughout the Cross Country event, which ultimately resulted in Dripstone finishing second overall in the Middle School division – what a great effort!
We are moving forward into a jam-packed Term 3, which consists of six different sports, which Dripstone will have the opportunity to showcase the excellence again, both on and off the field.
Thank you to McDonalds Casuarina for being a sponsor for our School Sports Program! Your support is greatly appreciated.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Grace and Zyla (both from Year 7), who were in the NT Football (Soccer) Regional Team that won the championship title earlier this month! Their team was undefeated after three days of competition.
Zyla was also selected for the state team that will be competing in Western Australia this October.
Well done to Roy (Year 7) who won his finals for the Top End Multi-Sports, Star Village Tournament, and the overall trophy!
Earlier this month, he concluded the School Sports Darwin Region Tennis Trials, and was selected to represent the NT for the upcoming Bruce Cup Tournament, which will be held in Darwin against other states in August. Roy has also been selected to represent the NT for the upcoming National Team Events, which will be held in Brisbane and the Gold Coast in late June. This event will host the top 12/13-year-old players in the country.
Recently, Dripstone students represented us at the Darwin Greek GleNTi. Well done to our students who performed at the event over the weekend or volunteered their time to help serve food, drinks or sweets to the community. Special mention to Zaharias (Year 8) and Andonis (Year 9) who went live on Mix 104.9 before the event to promote the GleNTi and their dance group, Opa Dance Darwin.
Well done to all students for their amazing achievements!
END OF SEMESTER 1
Thank you to Hon Lauren Moss for delivering a box of delicious goodies from Sweet Little Vintage to celebrate the end of Semester 1!
We appreciate your continued support of Dripstone Middle School!
UPCOMING SCHOOL EVENTS
INFORMATION EVENING AND SCHOOL TOUR
Dripstone Middle School welcomes all parents and carers of prospective students to attend our Parent Information Evening sessions for enrolment in 2025.
Guests will have the opportunity to speak with teachers and to see what Dripstone has to offer with a school tour.
DRIPSTONE SCIENCE FAIR
Dripstone Middle School invites Parents and Carers to attend the Dripstone Science Fair 2024!
This event is an opportunity for our students to showcase their scientific inquiry skills, creativity and problem-solving abilities around the topic of 'Sustainability for Survival'. The Dripstone Science Fair will feature a diverse range of projects and exhibits, including experiments, models and presentations.
This community event will be held at Dripstone Middle School on Thursday August 15th 2024, from 4.00pm - 5.30pm.
Dripstone Yearbook 2024
This year, Dripstone Middle School is producing a yearbook. The yearbook will showcase our student’s activities and achievements throughout the year and will provide your family with a memento of your child/ren’s school year.
The 2024 Yearbook will cost $26.00 and orders can now be taken via the Bookroom. Full payment is required at time of order. The books are due to be delivered at the end of Term 4. Order cut-off date will be Friday 20th of September 2024 (end of Term 3).
At time of enrolment, parents and carers would have nominated on the enrolment forms whether they give permission for their child/ren's photo and name be used in a yearbook. To check whether you have given permission for your child/ren to feature in the yearbook, or to change your preference, please call the Front Office on 08 8983 7777.
Communications
Dripstone Middle School uses the Compass Manager App to communicate important information, messages and newsletters to parents and families. Parents and carers can also report student absences, view reports and attendance, and contact teachers directly via the Compass app.
To set up your account, parents/carers should have received a notification via the email address supplied to the school. This notification contains your username and password. Download the Compass app and log in using the details listed, then follow the prompts. If you have changed your email address or phone number, please contact the school to update these details.
If you have any issues logging in, please be in touch with the Front Office on 8983 7777.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Exercise Pitch Black
Exercise Pitch Black (EX PBK) is the Air Force’s premier biennial flying activity for strengthening international engagement with nations from the Indo-Pacific and Europe. EX PBK will be held from 12 July to 2 August 2024. Aircraft and people will arrive as from the first week in July prior to the start of the exercise.
In 2024, we will see the largest contingent in the exercise’s 43 year history.
More than 4400 personnel from 21 nations will either participate or observe air combat training. More than 140 aircraft from around the globe including France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, UK, the Philippines, Thailand, Netherlands, Malaysia, New Zealand, Fiji and the US are expected to participate. EX PBK 24 will be bigger as Italy, Spain and Papua New Guinea participate fully for the first time.
The biennial three week multi-national large force employment exercise is conducted primarily from RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory (NT) and RAAF Base Amberley, located near Ipswich in Queensland. Flying will also occur from RAAF Base Curtin, near Onslow in West Australia and over the Arafura Sea this year.
For the Community
In appreciation of the support the exercise receives in the NT, the RAAF is pleased to continue the tradition of providing flypasts and handling displays from a multitude of nations at Mindil Beach on Thursday afternoon from 5pm on 18 July – the Exercise Pitch Black mini air show. The RAAF Base Darwin Open Day on 20 July 2024 showcases some of the participating Air Forces’ capabilities and meet the people who fly, maintain, supply and work around these aircraft from around the world. People need to register with OzTix – The Open Day is free but ticketed.
Flying schedule:
Flying periods during Exercise Pitch Black 24 from RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal are:
• July 15-17: 7am until 7pm
• July 18: 7am until 7:30pm
• July 22-25: 8am until 10:30pm
• July 28 to August 1: 8am until 10.30pm.
Flying times may be subject to change. For updates, please go to https://www.airforce.gov.au/news-and-events/events/exercise-pitch-black.
FREE COMMUNITY EVENTS
MINDIL BEACH FLYING DISPLAY
Exercise Pitch Black Flying Display is a free aerial display held as part of Exercise Pitch Black 2024. The flypast will feature 49 Australian and international military aircraft.
• Mindil Beach, Darwin - Thursday 18 July - Approximately 5pm – 6:30pm
RAAF DARWIN OPEN DAY
RAAF Base Darwin Open Day is a free community event held as part of Exercise Pitch Black 2024 at RAAF Base Darwin. This event presents an opportunity to view many local and international military aircraft and vehicles. The Open Day offers an opportunity to talk to international and Australian air force personnel who operate and maintain the equipment.
EVENT DETAILS
• Saturday 20 July - 9am – 4pm
• Food stalls, family rides, interactive exhibits and activities, Air Force band performance.
• No ATM facilities on site. Glass bottles not permitted. Smoke and alcohol free event.
• No animals allowed on site, unless registered assistance dogs.
• Residents are advised this is a FREE event. However, tickets are required for entry. Please go to OzTix to register. Tickets will not be available at the event.
Getting to the Open Day –free shuttle buses from Darwin Showground to RAAF Base Darwin.
AUSTRALIA CUP
Tickets for each match of the Australia Cup 2024 Final Rounds Playoffs are $20 Adults, $12 Concession* and $50 Family
*Concession Card Holders, Senior Card Holders, Students
**Children 3 years and under free unless occupying a seat
Australia Cup 2024 Playoffs Match Schedule
Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Brisbane Roar FC vs Perth Glory FC
Kick-off: 7.00pm local / 7.30pm AEST
Venue: Darwin Football Stadium at Larrakia Park
Tickets: Via australiacup.com.au/tickets
Wednesday, 24 July 2024
Newcastle Jets FC vs Western United FC
Kick-off: 7.00pm local / 7.30pm AEST
Venue: Darwin Football Stadium at Larrakia Park
Tickets: Via australiacup.com.au/tickets