In Term 4 we have less than 20 teaching days. Attendance is essential. All students need to be in class every lesson to ensure they achieve the best possible results. It is time for students to prioritise the completion of assessment tasks and focus on preparation for any examinations. One key step to creating more time is the reduction of social media use. This might not be a popular option but we live in a world of constant access and individuals need to be disciplined to manage this access appropriately. Most of us love chocolate but we do not consume it all day. Social media needs to be considered in the same vein.

Terms 3 and 4 are particularly exciting at Don College. We see the student progress and products of a year of learning. Our students are extremely creative, imaginative and energetic. Numerous displays, folios, research activities, performances and events will be completed over the next few weeks where students share and celebrate their achievements. Please keep an eye out on our Facebook page if you would like to be a part of any events.

Career and Life Planning is a class where all students spend time researching their futures. We also use this time to consider 2020 course selections for current year 11 students. We encourage all students to invest some time in conversation about future plans with significant others in their lives. This includes parents, carers, employers, teachers, mentors and coaches.

We wish all students a safe and happy holiday. It is important to rest and return to Term 4 re-energised. It is also important to stay in touch with your learning and balance work, rest and play with a bit of review and preparation for end of year assessments.

UTAS Object Design students at Don College were encouraged to design to the theme “Earthworks” this year as part of their UTAS Object Design course. Their projects are on display at the Devonport Art Gallery, ground floor and at Don College. All work is available for public viewing until October 13th.

Materials used are diverse and many have commercial appeal. Some designs are making a social or environmental statement. Teacher Shanli Perkins explains, “I hope the public can inspect the work and admire the creative design, thoughts and technical skills that have been used. There is a huge range of ideas that are very different from each other.”

The Devonport Art Gallery is open 7 days. Weekdays 7.30am - 4.45pm and Weekends 7.30am - 2pm. Don College welcomes visitors in business hours, please see reception for direction.

For the first time in many years, Don held a ball for the class of 2019.

Catering was provided by the college hospitality classes.

This event was organised by a group of grade 12 students. Judging by the photos everyone had a great time.

On the 26th of September, in the build-up to the AFL Grand Final, Don College played a football game against Launceston College. The event, which was held at Penguin’s Dial Park was organized by Mitchell Dell, Jesse Shepheard, Luka Argent and Liam Viney, who are students of the Sports Management class.
The Sport Management class, which is run in association with UTAS, had been given the task to create and plan a sporting event for the school/local area that involved community participation. The game was high quality, with both teams including a number of Tasmania Devil’s under 18 players and NWFL and NTFA under 18 representative players.

The Don team was successful on the day, running out winners by 50+ points. Liam Viney and Joey Chaplin both led from the front, while Luka Argent and Ben Callaghan were lively in the front half of the ground.

The group of boys who organized the event, along with the rest of the team would like to thank Sharrelle Preston, Justin Rodman and all of the Sport Management volunteers who helped on the day to enable such a smooth running of the event.

(Mitchell Dell)

Community Services students engaged in a project to assist victims of family violence by providing emergency packs of toiletries etc.

In many cases, victims need to leave the family home with little time to prepare and these emergency supplies provide valuable support.

The cast of Legally Blonde performed numbers from the show in a non-competitive section at the recent Devonport Eisteddfod.

Representatives from Don College were asked to speak about their VET certificate courses at Don College at a site visit made by representatives from the Australian Training Awards. The Tasmanian Secondary Colleges RTO  won the State Award for the 2019 Training Provider of the Year and is also a finalist in the National Awards for School Pathways to VET category.  Pictured Sophie Cronly (Applied Fashion Design), Amy Jones (Children Services) and teacher Shanli Perkins who shared their experiences in Vocational Education and Training as part of this presentation.

Don College Fashion students shone at the annual State Fashion Awards.

• Arabella Gillies won Costume Design and second in Wearable Art
• Josie Muther came second in the Environmental Wear section
• Evana Traj gained second place in the Formal Wear section
• Molly Carter earned the first place in the Wearable Art section and second in Costume Design

Huge congratulations to all fashion design students who entered Apex Teenage Fashion Awards. Big thank you to Hairdressing students who helped with hair and make-up. Don College students Molly Carter, Arabella Gillies, Josie Muther and Evana Traj will travel to Melbourne to represent Tasmania at the National Teenage Fashion Awards. Lauren Hatton and Claire Corker also won Awards. 

Last Friday students from Devonport schools joined with over 4 million students globally in the School Strike 4 Climate. Don College students – Tess Maxwell, Montannah Leary, Samarah Braid, Sophia Andrews, Luke Brydon, Sam Hill and Trenton Hoare – coordinated and led the Devonport strike action which attracted 300+ participants. Well done for taking the initiative, you were part of the biggest global call for climate action in history.

Our Salon Assistant class participated in the Avant-Garde Schwarzkopf Hair Competition. Students from Hellyer, Don and St Brendan Shaw Colleges had worked very hard designing their upstyles, hairpieces, makeup and outfits this term ready for the occasion. The competition was judged by Gerald Scott, Schwarzkopf Colour Educator for Tasmania and Tammy Aylett Senior Hairstylist at Allure Hair.
We are extremely proud of them all for creating some of the best designs the competition has seen.

Don College came away with 1st 2nd and 3rd prize!! 

Congratulations to:
1st Maggie McKendrick and her model Molly Carter (style was inspired by graffiti, using her own hair to colour and make the hairpieces)
2nd Annabelle Smith (inspired by moths, spiders web made out of real dreadlocks)
3rd Brooke Parker and her model Josie Thompson (Mad Max theme and coloured by Brooke)

Also competing was Jemma Mathews - Galaxy theme, Abbie Mathews - the Amazon Rain Forest theme, Amber Astell with Cassidee Anderson as her model, inspired by potatoes and the red dirt from the farm.

In about 6 weeks the final exams start for TASC Level 3 subjects. This is a very stressful time for students and staff as the year's learning is assessed.

The whole process can be intimidating, but remember that thousands of students have been through this process ahead of you and survived/succeeded, including all the teaching staff.

This article, published in The Age, describes some helpful tips from students who have found success in exams. Following their advice is a good idea.

'Delete your apps': How to blitz the HSC, by those who did

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.