Issue 7, 26 May 2023, Week 5 Term 2

Dear Families,

 It is hard to believe we are at the halfway mark of Term 2. Students and staff have been busily implementing and engaging with quality teaching and learning. We have focussed on high quality teaching practices linked to our current goals for school improvement as guided by the Australian Curriculum. As I move around the school, I thoroughly enjoy seeing students engaged in meaningful learning tasks that extend and support their current needs, while making connections back to prior learning. This allows students to genuinely understand the why behind what they are learning.

As previously communicated our school improvement goal this year is Reading. A major part of our Reading Inquiry is to analyse our own practice. We recently completed a round of colleague observations to determine what we are doing well and to also identify opportunities of growth in the context of our student data and what it is telling us. We ensure the teaching of Reading in all classes is in line with best practice. To achieve best practice we must ensure there is a consistent approach to the teaching of Reading from Kindergarten to Year 6. It is essential students are being taught the language of Literacy and not the language of the individual teacher. We have made excellent progress in this area and we look forward to sharing this progress with you in the coming weeks through reporting, sharing evidence of student learning and our open classrooms.

An important part of any well-rounded approach to maximising student learning is the partnership between home and school. An easy way to assist children in reaching one learning goal is to listen to and read with your child. This simple task can go a long way to ensuring your child becomes a confident and independent reader. We have amazing Reading resources within our school. Please encourage your child to access and bring home Reading material that aligns with their own interests.

Huon and Channel Cross Country Carnival

On Wednesday 24 May, Mrs Cockerell, Mr Jones and Mr Parrott took a group of 45 students across Years 3 to 6 to compete in the Huon and Channel Cross Country Carnival. All students represented the school exceptionally well and a large number won ribbons for their efforts. It was fantastic to see so many students out there having fun and encouraging others. As always, a massive thank you to Mrs Cockerell for her organisational brilliance. A lot of preparation and time spent goes into the running of these events and they would not run as well as they do without the behind the scenes efforts from Mrs Cockerell and her helpers. Thank you and congratulations to all the students who attended on the day! We look forward to sharing the successes from the next carnival in a few weeks’ time at Symmons Plains.

A special thank you to the Kingston Rotary Club for donating the school marquee used on the day. This ensured that the team were kept warm, dry and looked fantastic. Kingston Rotary Club are incredibly generous, not only donating items such as the marquee to our school, but also giving up their time each week to assist our learners. We are incredibly grateful by all that they do for our community.

Pre Kinder Sessions

In October we will be commencing Pre-Kinder sessions for those children who are enrolled for Kindergarten in 2024. These sessions are a fantastic opportunity to become part of our school community, to build strong friendships and partnerships before next year, and where parents/carers will have the opportunity to spend time with their children engaging in learning through play.

Our Pre-Kinder session details are listed below:

If you have a Kinder aged child for 2024 (a child turning five in 2024) it is vital that you grab an Enrolment Pack from the school office and return it to the office as soon as possible so we can secure your enrolment. We start allocating 2024 Kindergarten children into classes over the next few weeks and want to make sure we have included all of our current families who have siblings in older grades. If you have any questions around this process or your child’s placement for 2024 do not hesitate in contacting Miss Crane at school directly or via email – angela.crane@decyp.tas.gov.au. We are more than happy to arrange a school tour prior to these sessions and provide further information on what our fabulous school has to offer.

In 3/4 Stafford we were learning about Sorry Day and the Stolen Generation. We made hands coloured with the colour of the Aboriginal flag and Torres Strait Islander flag to acknowledge the past and show empathy to our First Nations people.

We have also been learning about solids, liquids and gases. Each of the states of matter are made up of molecules.  The substance is either solid liquid or gas depending on how strong the attraction between molecules is. Solids are rigid and do not flow. Liquids flow and take up the shape of the container they are in. Gas molecules have weak bonds and fly around at great speed.