As this newsletter is placed down in the chronicles of Middle-Earth, it reminds me of the rolling hills and bubbling brooks of the Shire lands.  Our young Hobbits (Year 10 students) have begun a journey as epic as the fellowship’s audacious task of destroying Sauron’s ring of power.  Our own Dark lord, Jesse Connors, has cast his dark shadow across Year Ten, but with the help of the maths wizard, Randulf and his hardy companion, Stuart Aragorn Crabtree, a small light of hope still shines in the beleaguered land of building one, bottom floor.  The students have had a busy start to year ten, completing Resilience Training, a first aid beach day, a surf carnival and a tour of the Burnie Utas campus. As we move into week 5 (entering the doors of the prancing pony), we have combated the deadly scourge of linear algebra and are moving towards graphing straight lines in Math. In English, we have been busy examining a variety of ancient texts to determine their Values. With the passing of John Marsden, students have also been reading one of his best-known novels, ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’. In HASS, students have been hard at work, investigating the key events of the 20^th Century. Finally, the young students have been studying alchemy (Science) to determine how things work, including looking at atoms, elements, ions, and their bonding structure. As we escape the clutches of the Dark Lord’s forces, the students gather up their trusted pony, Bill McClymont, and head towards the beacon, that is Weathertop (end of Term 1). Good luck and God speed on your journey, young Hobbits – Randulf, the 4^th Age, 2025. (AKA - Richard Robinson)