25 November 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Families,

Term 4 is always filled with many school events that enrich learning and celebrate our year. We appreciate your support in completing all paperwork, and getting students to and from school for events, when early starts or late finishes are required. Please keep an eye on our school calendar for dates of upcoming events. This year our presentation assemblies will be held on Thursday 15 December, with our K-6 assembly beginning at 9:30 and our 7-12 at 11:30. It is wonderful that so many families join us for this special event, and as always, families of students receiving awards will receive a letter acknowledging this in the coming week. For families who have students in our K-2 sector, we are excited to again have a Christmas Concert. This will be held on the 20th of December. Another event on our school calendar that always draws a crowd is the arrival of year 10 students at their Graduation Dinner. It is wonderful that people from across our community join us in acknowledging and celebrating these young adults. This event will also be held on December 20th.

Whilst I have just highlighted a couple of key end of year events, we still have four weeks of teaching and learning this year. Every day at school is still important and staff continue to use data to inform quality learning sequences for your child. Recently students completed their annual Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT). This is a requirement in all Tasmanian government schools and allows us to monitor our progress over time at both whole school and individual student levels. As always if you have any questions regarding your child’s progress, please contact their class teacher.

We look forward to the final month of student learning this year, as well as the events that celebrate our student’s successes with you.

Kind regards,
Anita Haley

ADMIN NEWS

Everyone warned me that term four was going to be hectic, much more demanding than the previous three. I didn’t think it was possible. Oh was I wrong! There is so much happening which is great to see and be part a of. We have a team of dedicated staff that are working around the clock to make presentation day happen. The community pool sessions are back up and running, which took a lot of organising. We are preparing book packs for next year. I’ve been entering key dates in to the 2023 calendar and working to make sure that we have a safe environment to work and learn in. The Admin team are learning about a new communication tool that will roll out in term 1 of 2023. It is called School Stream and will become the main method of communication between parents and the school. We have all had those notices that sometimes just don’t make it home, these will become a digital version, right to your phone. If you need to report an absence, you will be able to report this through the app. If your address or contact details change you will be able to submit this via the app. If you forget when the next student free day is, you will be able to refer to the calendar in the app. It will be a communication link between your students and their class. We are really excited about it and are in a testing phase at the moment. More information will be released in the new year.

I had a wonderful experience just this week when I had a visit from a student and her Aide. The student was having a difficult day, and so was I. We both sat in our chairs wishing we were at home playing with our dog, not saying much. This was the first time that I had seen this particular student like this. She is normally so bright and bubbly. She is in the Argonaut (yellow) house, and so are my children, so we have an automatic connection. We often call out across the playground “GO ARGONAUT!” We dug ourselves out of our misery and began to talk about our dogs, then we talked about Christmas, then I shared with her a picture of my dog, and one of me dressed in a Santa suit. This brightened her day and it definitely revivified mine. They only stayed a few minutes, but it was one of those moments that will leave a lasting memory. People often ask, are you enjoying your new job? I always respond that I love my job, I’m busier than I have ever been, but I am busy with a purpose. In return I am blessed with precious moments like this that make it all worth it.

Sam Terry
School Business Manager

SCHOOL HEALTH – FOOD SAFETY IN LUNCHBOXES

The weather is starting to become a bit warmer now that we are in Spring, so it’s time to rethink our lunch boxes to ensure our student’s food is safe to eat. Each year, many thousands of Australians suffer from illnesses associated with eating contaminated food, and children are more at risk of food poisoning and other infections than healthy adults. Food poisoning can be a serious health risk and further effects may include doctor’s visits, medication costs, time off work for parents to care for their sick child and in most cases, time off school for the child.

Keep it cool!

The most important thing to remember in keeping food safe during storage is to keep potentially hazardous food out of the ‘temperature danger zone’ of 5°C to 60°C. As schools generally do not provide students with access to heating devices, any potentially hazardous food in a school lunch box needs to be kept at a safe temperature of below 5°C.

Keeping in mind that school lunches usually sit for a few hours before being eaten, below are some simple tips to help ensure food is kept at a safe temperature until the time it will be consumed:

• use insulated lunch boxes or cooler bags
• keep a frozen drink or freezer brick inside the lunch box
• if preparing lunches the night before, keep it in the fridge until leaving for school
• encourage children to keep the lunch box in their schoolbag and to store it out of direct sunlight.

Any perishable food such as meat, poultry or egg sandwiches, should be thrown out if not eaten that day.

Alternatively, pack lunch options that do not need to be kept cool to stay safe, such as:

• sandwiches with fillings such as hard cheeses, pickles and some spreads like Vegemite
• canned meat or fish
• whole (uncut) fruit and vegetables.

Food safety tips

Parents and caregivers are reminded of a few simple food safety rules to prepare safe and healthy school lunches and avoid the growth and contamination of food poisoning bacteria:

• wash and thoroughly dry hands before handling food. Children should be encouraged to always wash their hands before eating.
• wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly.
• keep food preparation areas clean and dry.
• keep lunch boxes, utensils and reusable water bottles clean and dry.

Source: www.health.qld.gov.au.

foodsafety.asn.au Keep your kid's lunchbox safe - foodsafety.asn.au

Siobhan Mead
School Health Nurse

CANTEEN SPECIALS – TERM 4

GRADE 1 BLUE TIER EXCURSION

Grade 1 Szycman and Vincent went to the Anchor Stampers and St Columba Falls as part of their history and science learning. Below are some photos, pieces written about their excursion and some waterfall art work.

We had an excursion! It was amazing! I was with my friend. There were lots of foxgloves. The plants were wild. It was pretty. Avah D

I saw the Anchor Stampers, they were very big. There were lots of foxgloves. Then we went on the bus to Columba Falls. There was a lot of water. I felt heaps of water sprinkling on me. It was lots of fun. Milla A

On Wednesday we went on an excursion! To the Anchor Stampers. It was so cool. I found tin. We went on the bus. Then we went to St Columba Falls. It was so big we got wet on our faces. Noah P

On the excursion we went to the Anchor Stampers and St Columba Falls. It was fun. We had lunch and played on the playground. It was fun. I ran a lot and some people fell. Avah slid down the slide. I got to be dropped off at the Pub in the Paddock. Montanna F

On our excursion we went to the Anchor Stampers. They were cool. You could find some tin. The Anchor Stampers were made out of steel. We also went to the falls. It was cold, the falls looked cool. I felt the water. Charlie W

On Wednesday we went to the Anchor Stampers. Then there was fallen bits. On Wednesday we went to the Columba Falls. Water was spraying on our faces. I got some water in my face! Stella D

INTRODUCING SORA – ONLINE LIBRARY PLATFORM

Why Read?

Engaging students in reading is a key focus for us here at school because students that are able to read are able to access the information that makes all other learning possible. As teachers, we work hard to find texts that are ‘just right’ for the students in our classes and there is nothing better than seeing students excited and engaged in what they are reading.

Research suggests that reading is so good for us! It is linked to:

• Improving brain connectivity and memory
• Increasing vocabulary and comprehension
• Reducing stress
• Aiding in sleep readiness
• Increasing empathy

In addition, recent studies suggest that reading is linked to being happier and even living longer. Why read? Why not!

A Bit of Background

A recent survey (conducted by DECYP and Libraries Tasmania) revealed that easy access to quality texts acted as a barrier to children’s engagement in reading at school and at home. In response to this, Tasmanian Government schools now have free access to the world’s biggest eBook platform (SORA) which is a collection of eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, comics, graphic novels and levelled texts. Titles were selected based on what is most popular in Libraries Tasmania’s print and electronic collections and in Sora collections in Australian schools.

eBooks aren’t a replacement for print books but having access to materials both online and offline is a fast and effective way to make more books available to students. It is an amazing resource!

Who is it for?

It’s for all students from Prep to Year 12.

As students login with their personal details, they are only able to access texts that are age appropriate, so it is completely safe.

How does my child access SORA?

Borrowing items is as easy as downloading the SORA app from Apple or Google Play. SORA can also be accessed through a computer browser. Students will need the username and password that they use to log in to the school computers.

GRADE 8 CAMP

Grade 8 camps were held in week 4 at the Mt Cameron Field Study Centre. Students had a great time and activities included hiking to the summit of Mt Cameron, several obstacle courses, trying out the flying fox and several team challenges.

LEGO LEAGUE CHALLENGE

On Saturday the 12th of November 11 students from Grade 5/6 rocked up at 5.30 am to make their way to the FIRST Lego League Challenge held at Sacred Heart, Hobart. The 11 students were:

• Captain: Ziggy Szycman
• Manager: Greg Gibson
• Build Manager: Itsuki Butler
• Builders: Michala Davies, Neve Jordan, Finn Bell, Lennox Bennett
• Coders: Quinn Campbell, Magnus Agomuo, Ziggy Szycman, Greg Gibson
• Observer: Lachlan Bailey
• Reporter: Oliver Purcell, Michala Davies, Neve Jordan

Using the Engineering Design Process, we have been practising with Miss Kawajit during lunch, recess and after school hours on our innovation project – looking at how we can use underwater turbine to generate clean energy as this year’s theme is “SUPERPOWERED℠”.

In this SUPERPOWERED℠ challenge, our team explored where energy comes from and how it is distributed, stored, and used – and then we put our superpowered creativity to work to innovate for a better energy future.

We learnt about different types of energy sources, storage, distribution methods, and ways in which energy is consumed.

We used our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills to build our robot (EV3) and then to program it to move around a course to complete different missions. During the competition we were given three rounds to complete the 15 missions, which could be done in any order.

We were given feedback from the referees which helped us improve every round.

“Preparing for this challenge was very exciting for me and I was very interested to see how other teams were doing”, said Neve

Itsuki said, “It was exciting to be able to look at the work that other people have created in their groups and gave me inspiration to do more robotic coding”.

“This was an amazing opportunity for me to lead a team,” said Ziggy who was our Captain.

“I had a great experience and it was great learning for me”, said Magnus.

We would definitely love to do his again next year.

By Neve Jordan and Itsuki Butler

9-10 AFTERNOON TEA

During this term in Food and Cooking Essentials; along with cooking skills; students have been learning about food costing, table settings and etiquette.

As their final assessment the students designed and implemented an Afternoon Tea for themselves and invited guests. After trialling recipes students adjusted where necessary and produced and presented a delicious array of sweet and savoury dishes.

3-4 LAMBERT – REMEMBRANCE DAY

For Remembrance Day, 3/4 Lambert wrote a letter ‘home’ from the war front. We wrote about what life was like in the trenches and put ourself ‘into the shoes’ of a soldier during the war.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Life in the trenches is muddy and cold. The air is thick because of the radiation.

The food is stale and very limited. I lost one of my friends because he got shot in the heart. I was angry.

Love from Levi

By Levi Crane

Dear Mum,

It has been tough in the trenches. I have made friends, about three, and their names are Billy, Ben and Max. Ben died; I miss having a chat. Billy and Max miss him too.

It’s been hard getting food. We have baked beans and some fruit, but not much really.

I have seen some stuff I don’t want in my head. I have a scar, not anything bad, I guess it was from when I got hit in the leg from an arrow.

It is very wet and muddy and it is cold. I miss my warm bed and of course your lamb roasts.

How are you? Is Millie ok? Tell her I said hi. Hope you are good.

Willy

By Maddison Newett

Dear Mum,

I miss you dearly. I feel like I am dying of starvation. The food has nuclear particles in it. Some people are dying from it. I only have a little bit of water.

Life in the trenches is dirty, it’s the only way that the tanks cannot see us. I hate being in the trenches. It’s muddy, wet and scary just being in there. It’s so foggy. People could just come out of the fog and some just start spraying you down with their guns.

Love from Kobe

By Kobe Jackson

Dear Friend

Life at war is like a nightmare, enemy just dropped a bomb, and it nearly blew a bottomless pit in our trench. We’ve been up 24/7. Foods been mashed potato and cold beans.

Soldiers arrive every day floating down in parachutes. Some soldiers have been traumatised for life, seeing bloody guts and other unspeakable things. Maggots feed off dead cells in people helping them heal.

Planes fly overhead endlessly. We collect scrap metal and use it for more cover. I’m sure things back in Australia are tough; food must be low, and anxiousness would be agony. I’ve got a metal arm, it got crushed under lead. In hospital I lost a good friend and a soldier, he got stabbed through the belly.

Barb wire fencing is covering the coast that allows allies to come through in tanks and dropping off soldiers. No need to worry, I’ll come back, I always do.

From Sam

By Sam Barnes

A Remembrance Day service was held at school and hosted by the sports leaders.

MRS HONEY’S HAT

Kinder Gilbert children read the story of Mrs Honey’s hat. They made their own hats with all the things that got added to Mrs Honey’s hat.

BOOMERANG THROWING WITH RYAN

Earlier this week Kinder had boomerang throwing lessons, with Ryan, on the oval.

HOLLYBANK EXCURSION

Grade 5-6 students enjoyed themselves among the treetops at Hollybank last week. Below are some photos that Mrs Hunt took of 5-6 Hyland-Hunt and 5-6 Campbell.