5 April 2019
Newsletter Articles
- PRINCIPALS REPORT
- VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES
- GRADE 1-2 MARBLE MAZE
- GRADE PREP LITERACY
- GRADE 9/10 AND GRADE 7/8 ART
- GRADE 4-5 BURBURY/COOK
- GRADE 4-5 AND GRADE 5-6
- PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
- EAST NORTH EAST CARNIVAL
- GRADE 7-8C HAAS Teacher, Jill Lewis.
- GRADE 9-10A MATHS
- ASSIGNMENT – HOMEWORK SCHEDULE
- SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- MISCELLANEOUS
- COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRINCIPALS REPORT
Term 1 and School Improvement Priorities
My first term at St Marys District School has flown by and it is hard to believe we are already heading into the last week of this term. While writing this report I have taken a moment to reflect on some of the fantastic learning that has occurred as well as the wonderful experiences students and staff have had the opportunity to participate in. I have been so impressed with the students of St Marys District School, their welcoming manner and engaging conversation are things I look forward to everyday. The good will of our staff is also something I value on a daily basis and I thank every member of staff for their work this term.
Our School Improvement Plan has been developed during this term with the scan and assess of our current school data showing two clear priorities for our work. These will be the focus of our work across the whole school for 2019. They are:
- Building and embedding the pre-conditions for improvement
including
- An orderly learning environment
- High expectations
- Developing significant relationships where all students are well known - Developing and embedding a school wide model for instruction based on high impact teaching strategies
I look forward to sharing more of this work with you as the year progresses.
Positive Postcards
Have you or your child received a positive postcard in the mail yet?
Staff are extremely excited by this new way of celebrating, recognising and acknowledging great things that our students are doing both within and beyond our classrooms. It is wonderful to hear the stories and see the positive impact the postcards are having.
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High Expectations – Uniform
A reminder that full school uniform is an expectation for all students every day and I ask parents and carers to fully support our high expectations around this. Students are able to wear warmer outer layers when in the playground but these must be removed and placed in lockers or bags during class time. Hoods must not be worn on heads at any time within the school boundaries. Please note, board shorts are not part of our uniform and should not be worn to school, students may choose to bring these to school as part of their change of clothes for PE, but must change back out of them once the PE lesson is concluded. If you have any questions in regard to uniform please contact a member of our leadership team for further information. If you require any support around uniform please contact the school.
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School Association Committee 2019
The St Marys District School is currently calling for nominations for parent, community and staff representatives for the 2019 School Association Committee. I really encourage you to consider nominating to be part of this committee and in doing so support the students and the school. Committee members undertake administrative and decision making activities on behalf of all members of the association. As Principal I see this committee as integral to the workings of our school and I highly value each committee member for the skills, knowledge and commitment they bring to supporting the school. Their contribution helps our students succeed!
https://documentcentre.education.tas.gov.au/Documents/School-Community-Schools-Association-Committees-Factsheet.pdf
End of Term Assembly
I invite all parents/carers and community members to join us in the Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday 9th of April for a whole school assembly. During this assembly we will be celebrating achievements and sharing student learning across our whole school. I hope to see you there.
School Calendar
VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES
As part of our learning in science, Grade 3-6 Fingal students have been studying how volcanoes and earthquakes have changed the earth's surface over time.
We made volcanoes and blew them up to see who could make "magma spurt the highest". We also made tectonic plates on magma using food colouring, flour water and Cruskit biscuits. With this model we could see how earthquakes make tectonic plates move 3 different ways - divergent (apart), convergent (up and down) and transform (sideways).





GRADE 1-2 MARBLE MAZE
Students were asked to make a marble maze where the marble had to travel through each obstacle to get from the beginning to the end of the maze. Students worked together in groups or pairs to share their ideas to construct this maze. We then tested them to see if the maze worked. We shared our ideas with other students and inquired into how we could make them work more efficiently.





GRADE PREP LITERACY
In Literacy this year we have learned the letters- s, t, p, I, n, c, k, e, h, r, m, d. When we looked at the letter ‘h’ we made origami hats from newspaper. We practised writing the letter h on our hats. It’s so exciting in our prep room at present. We are learning to read and write. It’s magic!!!!!!!!!




GRADE 9/10 AND GRADE 7/8 ART
In Grade 9/10 Art, the students were asked to create a visual political poster about an issue that influences their lives.
Ellie Gamble in Grade 9, created a poster with a ‘black and white’ theme. The black man is shooting away from the people, whereas the white man is shooting at the people. The hands are controlling the people. The white people are the bad people, the black people are the good people.
In Grade 7/8 art, the students have been learning how to tonally paint with acrylic paints. Zoe Johnson has painted a good example of a silhouette of a rose on a tonal, sunset background.
GRADE 4-5 BURBURY/COOK
The 4/5 class have been investigating light; different types, where it comes from, how it can turn a corner and the properties of shadows. We undertook an investigation last week to find out what happens to a shadow when we move a light away from an object. We discussed what makes a fair scientific investigation and how we can control the variables. Students were asked to graph their results after conducting the investigation.





GRADE 4-5 AND GRADE 5-6
Whilst some of the students were away at the ENE athletics carnival, it gave the Grade 4/5 class and the Grade 5/6 class the opportunity to collaborate for a literacy focus. We have recently completed a unit of work in our Readers’ Workshop about reading for engagement. Part of this unit involved the students writing book recommendations about texts that they have recently read. The 4/5/6 students chose books that they thought would be appropriate for Grade’s 2/3 students. They then read and wrote recommendations about these books. The students then visited the Grade2/3 class for some shared reading of the books and the Grade 2/3 students added their own ideas about why they would recommend the books.





PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
How GOOD was the Kinder – Grade 2 Athletics Carnival?
What a joy to see the red, blue and green house colours of Duncan, Dalmain and Blackwood in the students t-shirts, P.E. witches hats, ground markers, house flags and the amazing house tents. The track looked magnificent and was set up in such a bright colourful way to invite all students to participate in the many activities on the programme. Thanks to Olivier Chartrain for the wonderful track marking and the wonderful Grade 3/4 Bennett students for carrying all the Kinder –Grade 2 equipment down to the track. The Kinder – Grade 2 students, parents, teachers and teacher assistants had the most exciting day. We hope you enjoy the photos of the day.
The Grades 3-6 section of the carnival was very successful even after the late start due to the welcome rain delay on the Tuesday.
A big thank you to the Secondary students who made the carnival work so smoothly. They worked the timing machine, started the track events, measured the field events and supported the Primary staff and students at each station.
Students were keen to do their best and made a solid start with the 400m event which produced two new records:-
Savannah Singline - 1.31.72
(old record set in 2003 1.34.86)
Jaxon Harrison - 1.04.46 (old record set in 2006
1.26.04)
Savannah also set a new record in the 100m -
17.15 (old record set in 2012 15.72)
There were also records by Brodie Faulkner (3.62) and Sophie Syka (2.90) in the long jump and Kayden Rigby in the high jump. There results were particularly pleasing after the work students did with Josh Mason from Little Athletics Tasmania.
Grade |
Track Champions |
Runner-up |
3 Girls |
Savannah Singline |
Bianca Freeman |
3 Boys |
Brodie Faulkner |
Fletcher Mason |
4 Girls |
Wally Freiboth |
Byron Woods |
4 Boys |
Henna Bunton |
Katie Jones |
5 Girls |
Henry Legge |
Tysen Gamble |
5 Boys |
Ava Howorka |
Helayna McGiveron |
6 Girls |
Alice Mills |
Kiara Worrall |
6 Boys |
Izack Miller |
Ashton Gillies |
Final results were:-
DALMAIN 475
BLACKWOOD 366
DUNCAN 323





EAST NORTH EAST CARNIVAL
St Marys was represented by a very excited group of athletes at last Wednesday’s E.N.E Athletic Carnival at St Helens.
The weather was clear with no wind, a major concern at the ground, and with the help of a few handy parents we put up our new tent. Did we look the goods!!!
The 800m event was first and our runners made a great start with some fine runs. With the 400m we again made strong finishes with a number of top three places.
The highlight of the 100m races was a 1st, 2nd, 3rd finish from Jaxon Harrison, Byron Woods and Bo Bryant. Then there was another in the 200m with Jaxon, Wally Freiboth and Byron taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
There were many other commendable performances resulting in twenty two students being selected to represent the E.N.E. Association at the Combined Carnival to be held at St Helens on April 4th 2019 commencing at 11am.





GRADE 7-8C HAAS Teacher, Jill Lewis.
The students in HASS have been investigating the Ancient Australian Indigenous people and how they used and still use in modern times, symbols to communicate their meanings to others. The early cave paintings on rocks illustrate a primary source of information about the first Australian people.


GRADE 9-10A MATHS
Grade 9/10 A have been working on Scientific Notation in Maths. To show the scale of the large numbers we were working with, the group headed out onto the oval to attempt to create a scaled model of the Solar System. Using a goal post as the sun and students as the planets, we spread out across the oval.





ASSIGNMENT – HOMEWORK SCHEDULE
Class |
Teacher |
Assignments /Homework |
Due Date |
9-10A |
Lucie Ellis |
English : Culmination Task, discussion contributions. |
11th April 2019 |
9-10B |
Lucie Ellis |
English : Culmination Task, discussion contributions. |
11th April 2019 |
9-10C |
Lucie Ellis |
English : Culmination Task, discussion contributions. |
11th April 2019 |
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
LIFT – Preserving Food Workshop
– Kinder to Grade 2 students
Combined ENESSSA Athletics Carnival – Selected
students requested to attend.
Primary Assembly –Fingal Campus
SECONDARY
Science and Engineering Challenge – Student in Grade 9-10 who have expressed an interest in attending.
WHOLE SCHOOL
Public Sector Union - Stop work meeting
MISCELLANEOUS
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTICEBOARD
Table Tennis - Community Group - St Marys School Gym
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