20 March 2019
Newsletter Articles
- PRINCIPALS REPORT
- FUN AT FINGAL!!!! K – 2 PE with Miss Bramich
- GRADE 2/3 GRAY/STANFORD
- LIFT
- 1,2,3,4, LOUDER, SOFTER, SHAKE, SING AND BANG!!
- LEARNING INSTRUMENTS IN GRADE 3-6 MUSIC
- THE SCALE OF IT!!
- FINGAL CAMPUS – EC1
- GRADE 7-10 SWIMMING CARNVAL
- HOSPITALITY
- HIGH SCHOOL ART
- ASSIGNMENT – HOMEWORK SCHEDULE
- SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRINCIPALS REPORT
Progress Reports
Progress Reports
Progress reports will be going home with students on 22nd of March. These reports provide an indication for how your child has settled into their learning this year and will also include attendance data for the term so far. Please take the time to look through your child’s report and have a discussion with them. A great framework for this discussion is to look at areas for celebration first, and then identity one or two areas for improvement. Supporting your child to set some strong goals from the progress report is a great way to support their learning at school. A reminder to all Parents and Carers, if you have any questions about the progress report or would like to discuss them in more detail please contact the school office on 63723900 to make an appointment with the teacher concerned.
Attendance – Every day counts!
Attendance – Every day counts!
Attending school every day has a huge impact on how well your child goes at school. Research shows that higher student attendance is associated with higher student achievement. Additionally, attending school every day helps children to build social and emotional skills such as communication, teamwork and resilience. As you read your child’s progress report I encourage you to have a careful look at the attendance report. Please contact the office to provide explanations for any days currently marked as unexplained or unauthorised. These types of absences may lead to you receiving an attendance alert letter if they remain unexplained.
As we are now in the second half of term 1 it is a good time to review our school’s attendance procedures. Please notify the office or your child’s class teacher of the reason for your child’s absence. I would like to remind families that according to the Education Act, the only authorised reasons children can be absent from school are:
- sickness/incapacity
- medical, legal or related appointments
- natural disaster or extreme weather
- terminal illness of an immediate family member
- bereavement or a person your child had a close, significant or family relationship with
- having witnessed or subject to family violence
- being a participant or official at a recognised State, National or International event
- participating in a recognised learning experience
- an application for home education being received by the Education Registrar and provisional registration being granted.
https://documentcentre.education.tas.gov.au/Documents/Excused_from_Attendance_Changes_School_Newsletter_Article.pdf
We need your help!
Can you spare a couple of hours each week to assist with the School Association Op Shop? If so please contact the school office or call into the Op Shop for further details. The Op Shop Volunteers do an amazing job and the funds raised directly benefit the students of St Marys District School.
School Calendar
FUN AT FINGAL!!!! K – 2 PE with Miss Bramich
Giggle, roll, turn right, look up, two hands, one foot at a time! Why did we move like that? How did that movement feel? How do you need to bend your arms? Great team work every one! Here is something we have not tried before! Well done Grade 2’s for showing the Kinders how to stand ‘behind’ a witch’s hat! Drink break everyone!! PE has been so much fun – especially the big ball, hurdles and rubber chicken games! We can not wait for the Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 19th March!





GRADE 2/3 GRAY/STANFORD
On Thursday afternoons Grade 2/3 have Art. We have been reading the book ‘The Witches’ written by Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl describes the characters of witches with great detail. To draw our pictures we created images in our minds and sketched them on to paper. The witches in the book have bald itchy heads, wear wigs, square feet with no toes and often wear boots to hide them. They have long curvy claws on the end of their fingers and wear gloves to hide these. Their eyes change colour and in the middle they have fire dancing and ice in the other. They have large wavy nose holes and blue split.
We used black permanent marker to outline our sketches and water colours.





LIFT
Home Reading
In response to parent queries about home reading, we are adding short video clips to our Newsletter. Our aim is to offer parents and grandparents useful tips for reading with/to children. If you have any requests for specific tips/strategies, please pass them on to your child’s teacher or to Mrs Bec Mason directly.
Video 1: “Tracking’’ means pointing at the words as you read. If your child can not distinguish the words on the page yet, you can “hand over hand” help them to point. This is an important strategy for early readers. 5 – 6 year olds are learning what a word is, that spaces signify the end and start of a word and that words go from left to right across the page. They are learning that the words relate to the pictures and are developing their fine motor skills to turn pages. Enjoy our first reading sessions, starring Ella (Reading With: Tracking) and Harrison (Reading with: Tracking). Students from Prep will be bringing home a flyer with Tracking Tips this week.
Parent Help
Volunteering for parent help is a wonderful way to keep in touch with your child’s learning, and our teachers really value and appreciate any help you can offer. We also love it when parents and grandparents participate in special activities that we organise for students.
All volunteers need a current Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) card. WWVP cards are available via online registration at the link below and an identification photo taken by Service Tasmania within 3 weeks of online registration. Volunteer WWVP card fee is $18.96, to be paid at Service Tasmania. Processing can take up to 6 weeks.
http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children/application
We have many opportunities for parents to volunteer in their child’s classroom, a variety of events coming up on the 2019 calendar. Please register for your Working with Vulnerable People Card now to avoid disappointment. If you would like help with the online forms and/or access to a computer to register, our lovely office staff can make arrangements for this. If you hold a current WWVP card, please check its expiry date, as they have a 3 year limit and you may need to renew your registration in the coming months.
Assemblies and events do not require you to hold a WWVP card.
1,2,3,4, LOUDER, SOFTER, SHAKE, SING AND BANG!!
Wow! K – 2 Music students with Miss Bramich are having a wonderful time in Music. Our students are being introduced to different types of music and songs from different cultures around the world. Not only have they been learning the lyrics of an Inuit Eskimo fishing song called “Okki tokki unga” but they have been doing actions to the lyrics AND, can you believe it, playing the song on the keyboards WHILE they are singing! They are also learning an Australian Indigenous childrens’ song called “Ananay”. As the students learn to sing the lyrics, they are using their breath, teeth, tongue and lips to pronounce the words. This also supports the work class teachers do in Literacy with oral language in the classroom. With some polish and a dose of confidence, they may be able to perform these items in an assembly this term!
LEARNING INSTRUMENTS IN GRADE 3-6 MUSIC
In recent weeks Grade 3 – 6 students have had the opportunity to choose an instrument to learn to play. Students chose from string, wind and percussion instruments - ukulele, guitar, drums, recorder, keyboards and voice. Dance will be offered later in the year. Students have been using self-paced music-method resources with teacher guidance. Students are also completing some theory work such as understanding the parts to the instrument they have chosen, how to tune it, how hold it, what sounds it can make and how to pack their instruments away properly. Students have also been introduced to a sing a song as a class group.





THE SCALE OF IT!!
Students in Grade 5/6 Williams have been learning to use and interpret scale. We have studied maps and spent a day using scale to compare many major landmarks. We first drew their length and widths on concrete with chalk using a scale of 1 metre to 1 centimetre. We then returned inside to build the same monuments with straws using a scale of 1 centimetre to 10 metres. This is helping to develop understanding of place value.





FINGAL CAMPUS – EC1
Prep-Year 1 students have been learning how to use non-standard units of measurement to calculate the length of objects. We had to choose the unit of measurement, find objects to measure, estimate the length, count the units and record the answer. We learnt that when we measure we should not leave any gaps between the units, not overlap them, use the same units and align the units with the objects.
Year 2 students used standard unit of measurement (1 meter ruler) to measure the height and the length of objects. We learnt that 1 meter equals 100 centimetres. We measured the objects and recorded the measurements, converted the units and compared objects with different lengths and heights.





GRADE 7-10 SWIMMING CARNVAL
1st Place- DUNCAN 640
2nd Place-
BLACKWOOD 464
3rd
Place- DALMAIN 455
CHAMPIONS AND RUNNER-UP CHAMPIONS
Grade |
Champion |
Runner-up |
7 Boys |
Caleb Broughan |
Jimmy Freiboth |
7 Girls |
Zali Taylor |
Bayli Casboult |
8 Boys |
Elvis Russell |
Max Salter |
8 Girls |
Darshini Barnes |
Ava Lockwood-Roden |
9 Boys |
Darcey Scott |
Aaron Mason |
9 Girls |
Bridie Aulich |
Kate Aulich |
10 Boys |
Fraser Russell |
Connah Tuck & Leo Taylor |
10 Girls |
Tahlia Randall & Ria Oliver |
Erinn Spilsbury |
NEW RECORDS
Grade |
Event |
Name |
Old record |
New record |
9 Boys |
50m Backstroke |
Aaron Mason |
43.81 Alex Cronan (2000) |
40.81 |
9 Boys |
50m Backstroke |
Darcey Scott |
42.06 |
|
9 Boys |
25m Backstroke |
Aaron Mason |
18.12 Brendan Tennick (1999) |
17.74 |
Congratulations to our champions and runners-up for the secondary swimming this year. We had a fantastic day at the pool with some very close contests across the Grades. We wish our team all the best for the Inter-High event in Launceston on the 29th March.
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HOSPITALITY
TEAM WORK, INSPIRATION, CREATIVITY AND GOOD FOOD
Tom and Bayley making Fried Rice
LEARNING CO-OPERATION, ENTERPRISE AND FUN
Ria Oliver making Raspberry Muffins for Business Enterprise
Sylvia Watson and Olivia Reitsema making Sausage Rolls for Business Enterprise
Kate Aulich making Churros for Enterprise Cooking
FOCUS AND INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
Grade 7-8 Options – Cooking



HIGH SCHOOL ART
The students at St Marys are learning about the principles and elements of design and are being taught how to use the different mediums available to create ideas in their art work.
Jill Lewis, Art Teacher.





ASSIGNMENT – HOMEWORK SCHEDULE
Class |
Teacher |
Assignments /Homework |
Due Date |
7/8 A |
K Nunn |
Number Homework Book |
Appropriate week due every Friday |
9/10 A |
K Nunn |
Fraction, Decimal and Percentage Homework Book |
Appropriate week due every Friday |
Grade 6 |
Mrs Williams |
Athletics Carnival recount Letter to a politician |
March 26th April 2nd |
SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
These notices have been sent home to parents in the last fortnight. If you did not receive one and would like to receive a copy of the notice, please contact the school office on 63 723 900.
PRIMARY
NAPLAN 2019 - For student in Grades 3-5-7-9
Parent Welcome Letter for Grade 3-4-5-6 Fingal Campus
SECONDARY
Parent Letter for ICT User Agreement Form – For students in Grade 9-10
Excursion to Ironhouse Vineyard – For students in Grade 11-12
WHOLE SCHOOL
Bus Agreement form for students who travel on buses.
Miscellaneous
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTICEBOARD
Table Tennis - Community Group - St Marys School Gym
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