We congratulate students for their hard work over the past school year. Assessments are now complete and results will be collated and reported by TASC. These results do carry some weight for individuals and possible future options, but they are not the only measure of success. Regardless of actual subject results, we see students develop their critical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills, ethical understandings, self-confidence and maturity.

We congratulate students on their efforts and thank all staff at Don College for their commitment to our students.

This newsletter is future-oriented, a celebration of achievement and showcases possibilities for the summer period and beyond. We highlight the plans of a number of students. They have shown great courage and successfully applied for a range of future options.

We also wish our retiring staff every success with their future plans.

Congratulations to all for your success and achievements in 2019.

What is it like to attend Don College? In this article, Ella Jordan looks back over her two years at Don College and forward to her plans for the future.

So here I am at the end of year 12 looking back over the past two years. Throughout my time at Don College, I enrolled in a range of subjects. Some subjects I chose to allow me to complete my English and Maths ticks and others I chose due to interest in the subject and the knowledge which was going to benefit my future plans. Over the two years, I studied English 3, Maths General 3, Health Studies, Outdoor Education, Food and Nutrition, Photography, Sport Science and Sport Management. In year 11, I particularly enjoyed Health Studies and English 3. Health studies was an interesting and rewarding subject that provided me with some valuable background knowledge for Food and Nutrition in year 12. English 3, was a subject I surprisingly enjoyed which prepared me with skills such as essay writing, which I continued to use throughout the rest of my schooling year.
In year 12, I chose subjects that I thought would suit my personality. In the early stages of year 12, I decided that Sport Science wasn’t a subject that I enjoyed, so I made the decision to drop the course. This allowed me to have time to really focus on my other subjects. I particularly enjoyed Photography. Photography was something that I had much experience in, but I started to discover my real self through this subject. I felt that my end of year piece described me and the journey I had gone on to discover who I am.

The theme behind my artwork

Throughout this year, I have lived by the following quote which has helped me shape the 7 final pieces artwork which I have created:

I have based my work and my concept around self-love and the raw beauty of a human being which one often forgets. My main focus has been to manipulate the true features of the ‘models’ in my shoots by painting, drawing or using line art to disguise them as another personality. I believe in our society we may feel obligated to look, feel and act at a certain standard, but not for our own benefit. Our generation is very much caught up in ‘perfectionism’ and we go to great lengths to achieve this, which often results in forgetting our own self-worth. Growing up, I have had issues with being able to love myself and the skin that I am in. I often would find myself trying to change in response to other’s expectations, which soon resulted in anxiety, many insecurities and doubts. Losing myself has helped me to re-discover who I am really am and I hope that others who feel or have felt the same can relate to this through my artwork.

Plans for next year

I have big plans next year to move away to the mainland and study at university. I have applied to 3 universities, UTAS, Griffith and Monash to study either Nursing or Paramedicine. Ideally, I would love to be accepted into either Monash or Griffith to study either subject. I have a strong passion for health and well-being and I want to have a job that I enjoy and is rewarding. I believe either of these careers will live up to those expectations. At the same time, I have an open mind and am feeling optimistic about whatever the future holds for me.

Positives and negatives about my time at Don

Don College has been a huge learning experience for me. It has taught me who my true friends are, what I want and don’t want out of life and what really makes me happy. There have been many positives but also some struggles. One of the biggest positives for me was the freedom I had attending Don College. After transitioning from high school to college, I was given the freedom to choose a personal pathway which I thought was going to benefit me. It was up to me how much effort I would put in. Knowing that my freedom and the opportunities were endless, it encouraged me to do my best. However, the college also provided some of the most challenging schooling years for me. The workload increases, friends come and go, and I often found myself searching for an easy way out. The best advice I could give is to keep pushing until the end because your best efforts are going to benefit you in ways you won’t imagine. Focus on your own goals and you will be rewarded.

Tiarna first applied for the Tasmanian Police Career Development Program whilst in Grade 11 (2018). Her application was not successful, but Tiarna was convinced that the Police Force was her future. In preparation for applying for the Program in 2019, Tiarna added to her skills base so that her application would be more attractive: she applied and was accepted into the Tasmanian Fire Service as a volunteer; she improved her fitness; she attended information sessions – both at school and at Police Station; she talked with the Police Officers working at Don College; and she got feedback on her written application from the Career and Life Planning Team.
Tiarna was successful in 2019, and she travelled to Hobart to attend the four-day live-in course at Rokeby Campus. The days started early, and candidates worked hard all day – but Tiarna also said that they were fed very well – and went to bed early! Tiarna was the only candidate from the North West, with most candidates coming from Hobart. Tiarna received very positive feedback about her ability to step out of her comfort zone, to approach strangers and initiate conversations, to ask questions and respond to discussions, and to show leadership in team-building activities. In addition to the practical activities, there was also a day of written testing. Tiarna has studied pre-tertiary subjects in Maths, English and Psychology and feels these may have given her an edge over other candidates (being only one of two candidates to pass all the written assessments). She was unaware that there were practice tests online – so would recommend these to future applicants.
Tiarna said that talking to the 2019 recruits about the training was amazing. That they were very friendly and were willing to share their experiences and information about the course and the job. She also really enjoyed the driving test, which was better being a licenced driver!
Tiarna was very keen after this experience to be accepted, but there was quite a wait (until after classes finished for 2019) before she received notification that she had been accepted for the 2020 intake. She is very excited for her career in Tasmania Police to commence.

In Year 11 Jesse Langmaid studied English 3, General Maths 3, Business 3 and Athlete Development. In Year 12 her focus moved to Housing and Design 3, Environmental Science 3, Art 3 and Physical Recreation. Jesse also worked part-time at Hill Street, saving hard to fund her adventures.

Jesse has finally made her plans for 2020/21. She will be leaving Australia at the end of January to head to Greymouth, in New Zealand, where she has organised work in a hostel that, “looked cool”. She is planning to buy a car to tour around and pick up other work in agriculture. On the 20^th May, Jesse will fly to New York for a week of exploring, before heading to Boston.  From Boston, Jesse will head to Maine, on the shore of Lake Thompson, where she will work in a community of 230 campers with 150 resident staff, at Camp Fernwood. Jesse has been employed as the soccer coach and a camp counsellor. It is then off to Canada for a few weeks to catch up with family, in Nova Scotia, before heading home to repack. In 2021 Jesse will study in Christchurch NZ. She has been made a conditional offer to study a Bachelor of Commerce, specialising in Agriculture, at Lincoln Agriculture College.  As you can probably gather Jesse likes to plan! After her studies, she would like to work at a station, either in New Zealand or Australia, before eventually taking over the family business. Good luck Jesse, have fun and remember to stay in touch!

Maggie Sheehan was announced on Monday 18th November as a winner of the Country to Canberra Leadership Competition and will represent Tasmania in the nation's capital next month.

The trip includes a Powerful Women's Breakfast, meeting with federal ministers, a careers fair, a tour of parliament, leadership and public speaking training supported by TedX and tickets to parliamentary question time.

Congratulations Maggie, hope you have a great time and get a lot out of the experience.

Ella always planned to have a gap year when she completed Don College. “When I first travelled on a Japanese school trip back in 2016, I knew that I wanted to spend my gap year exploring the beauty of Japan.”
“Over a year ago, at Don, I learnt about an Australian recruitment agency, Boobooski, which offered young people ski resort jobs within Japan.“
Ella grabbed the opportunity to complete a few applications and interviews in Japanese and has been accepted for the 2020 winter ski season. Fast forward to now, Ella has completed year 12 and leaves for the powdery slopes of Niigata, Japan in early December.
Here is some advice from Ella:
”To any year 12 Japanese students, or even those who don’t know any Japanese yet, I highly recommend looking into the 2021 Japan ski season. I can’t wait to see what Japan has in store for me!”
We all wish Ella a safe and fun time on the slopes in Japan. We know her language skills and cultural awareness will continue to grow.

Georgia Cleaver and Lachlan Marshall have been invited to attend the National Mathematics Summer School, 5th to the 18th of January 2020. The annual event selects around 75 mathematically-gifted students from around the country to attend the Australian National University in Canberra and participate in courses not typically taught in the Australian Curriculum.

Both these students have thoroughly enjoyed their maths and science classes this year at Don College, which has inspired them to learn more about their opportunities in STEM. The summer school is an amazing opportunity for them both to glimpse university life and consider different courses they could study after college.

Lachlan

With the emphasis often placed on TCE and ATAR results, it is easy to forget that VET Certificate courses are a major part of the Don College curriculum and provide an excellent pathway to a successful career. Information about our VET curriculum is available at https://doncollege.education.tas.edu.au/vocational-education. 

Reilly Eberle has achieved successful outcomes in Object Design, Design production and Engineering Certificate 2. Reilly has a keen interest in restoring Australia Post motorbikes and 4 wheel drive motor vehicles. Recent work placement has secured Reilly with an apprenticeship at Delta Hydraulics. 

We have had the privilege of having Shelby Rayner on our campus for the last 2 years studying hard whilst in the background, working exceptionally hard both on and off the court to prepare for her lifelong dream which has finally come to fruition. Shelby has had a life-changing offer from a huge Division 1 NCAA basketball college (USA) Californian Baptist University (also known as CBU). Shelby has been committed to getting better every day, playing and training for the Ulverstone Redhoppers, the High-Performance Basketball Tasmania program, junior state teams and the Don College Donkeys who are going away to the National Championships on the 1st of December.
Shelby will be lining up for 2020 in the Launceston Tornadoes and Ulverstone Redhoppers before she departs for the states in early August.

The Computer Graphics and Design classes explore animation techniques. The Foundation and Level 3 classes this year have produced some excellent work.

These examples of student work demonstrate two very different animation techniques. The first is an advertisement for a watch using keyframe animation and the second, an amusing animation about a character living inside your computer, is a fine example of character rigging.

To celebrate Seniors Week, the Hospitality Department offered a "Shine and Dine" experience. Guests were treated to a pamper session with the Salon Assistant class, where the clients chose a head massage or hair wash and blow-dry. The guests were then taken to the College Restaurant for a High-Tea. Students served traditional pots of tea, canapés and hors d'oeuvres. The Shine and Dine event is run in conjunction with the Devonport City Council.

The National Apex Teenage Fashion Awards

These were held at LCI Melbourne on the 19^th of October. Six State garment designs were from Don College.  Josie Muther won Society and Environmental Wear and was awarded a $12 500 scholarship to study Costume Design.  Congratulations to all of the students, making it to the national stage is an incredible achievement!!!

Fashion from Paper

Congratulations go to Maggie McKendrick and Molly Carter who entered open division Paperwear in Burnie. You can see their work at 211 Upper Mount Street Art Gallery in Burnie on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11 am till 3 pm for the month of November. Maggie won second place with her colourful cone design and Molly won third place with her tissue paper moulded design. Both students are excited for Year 12 and have already started designing for 2020!

Maggie

Molly

Finally

Arabella Gillies had a very successful year in fashion design winning two State Awards and represented Tasmania at the National Apex Fashion Awards. She is now enrolled to study Cert lll/lV Fashion Design at Burnie TAFE and is excited about the future.

Arabella

Professor Hardie was appointed Dean of Education at the University of Tasmanian 1946 and remained there until his retirement in 1976. Following the death of Professor Hardie in 2002, the Hardie Fellowship Trust was established under the terms of his will and is administered by Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees Limited in its capacity as trustee.

The Perpetual Trust was established with a bequest of $7.5 million. Income from the trust is used to provide fellowships for teachers in the employment of the Department of Education and who have demonstrated outstanding skills, to enable them to pursue advanced studies or research at an approved University in the United States.

Congratulations go to Nigel Baptist, who has been awarded a Hardie Fellowship for 2020.

Nigel will be using his fellowship to study new developments in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education. He will also be exploring current developments in 'maker spaces'.

We are looking forward to Nigel returning to Don College and applying all the things he will discover in the USA.

Farewell....

We have some long-serving staff leaving us this year and we would like to say farewell and wish them all the best on a new chapter starting in their lives.  Thanks for all your hard work, time and efforts for the benefit of those young people you've worked with, taught and inspired.

First, we will honour three staff retiring.

Dean Dunham

Grant MacDonald

Grant began teaching Chemistry and Computer Studies at Burnie Community College in 1982 and transferred to Don College in 1985. In 1999, he worked as a Senior IT Consultant for 10 years then returned to teaching at Parklands High. In 2011, Grant transferred to Don College as an Advanced Skills Teacher where he has had primary responsibility for the development of the ICT related areas, including the college's social media platforms and website and trying to move staff forward in using ICT in a constructive way for teaching and learning. 

Grant models lifelong learning and is always enrolled in a course of some description. His passion is in design and ICT enhanced teaching and learning. He is a prolific blogger and producer of content.

When not blogging, studying or creating content for students you might find Grant on a golf course. This game has presented many challenges for him but it is guaranteed exercise and he does not always take the shortest route home.

Grant is willing to share ideas and respectfully challenge the status quo. He will present well-considered alternatives and follow up with action. Grant's knowledge and skills in the ICT area will be greatly missed and we wish him well and congratulations on a long and successful career.

Jan Archer

We say farewell to Jan who leaves us as a very experienced and well-respected teacher of Maths and Science. She actually retired earlier this year but as a mark of her dedication and commitment, she agreed to stay on to finish off her Maths class and see them through to the end of the year.

Jan has a passion for travelling and can often be found skimming travel sites in search of a bargain. She has travelled to many exotic places and is fond of the odd cruise.

Jan has taught at many local schools on the NW Coast and had a brief sojourn in WA, where she taught for a year or so to be close to her family. She has taught at Don for many years now and is to be congratulated on a long and successful career. She will be missed by her colleagues and students. We wish her all the best and if you look carefully you may just see her skimming the waves on her stand-up paddleboard.

TasTAFE is offering Aboriginal Support in Devonport on 64784246 or 1300 655 307. Assistance can include: fees covered for many programs of study, materials, tutorial assistance, and transport. If you are considering TAFE as your next option and are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander student, please call and talk about your eligibility.

Details at https://www.tastafe.tas.edu.au/current/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-support/ 

TASC will email exam results to students on 17th December. If anybody hasn't registered their email address or would like to change their address, this can be done at https://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/students/years-11-and-12/your-results/receive-results-via-email/ up until 16th December.

The marking process is very thorough, but occasionally mistakes are made. If a student gets results that they are surprised by they can apply to see their exam paper and request a review. This process must be initiated by the student by completing the form on the TASC web site.

Once a student starts this process it is important to also contact the college, as teachers are able to support students through this process. This includes going through a paper with a student to check their answers for errors in marking.

Transitions from Don College to University or from Don College to work can be very challenging.
All of our Year 12 Leavers are in this transition time.
If you feel overwhelmed or struggling with the uncertainty of your direction, there are support services available to you:

• Mental Health Helpline: 1800 332 388
• Headspace: 6424 2144 or
• Headspace e-help at www.eheadspace.org.au/webchat-counseling
• Your GP

Reminder: the Don College Social Worker is available to make referrals or have chats until the 20th of December and again from the 2nd January – 5th February.

If you are struggling to find work there are numerous job placements agencies available to help young people find and settle into a job. Do your research and see which one is right for you; each can offer various amounts of support based on your needs - a good place to start is a talk with Centrelink about your job searching needs.

Don't forget to follow us on Youtube. Our channel contains an expanding mix of student work, college events and promotional material.

You will find us at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/doncollegedevonport 

We have launched SZapp, our Schoolzine App. This free app supports all your communication with the college. It also provides a way for us to push notifications out to our community, should they be necessary.

Download the SZapp app from your app store.

Click here for installation and configuration instructions.