31 July 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Welcome back to Term 3 and a special welcome to our new students and families who join our staff this term.

Three Way Interviews

Thank you to all parents who were able to attend the Three Way Interviews held this week. These interviews provide a fantastic opportunity for teachers, students and parents to celebrate successes and identify next steps in learning. Goals set at these interviews can be followed up both at home and at school and build the partnership between home and school that is really essential for achieving the best possible outcomes for students. If you were not able to attend I encourage you to make contact with teachers through the school office to ensure we are all supporting our students to be the best they can be.

I would also like to acknowledge the staff for their tireless work in ensuring student reports and interview notes were succinct, informative and so professional; the administration team for their wonderful work in collating and distributing and a big thank you to the leadership team for their excellent leadership of the reporting process.

Staff Professional Learning

On Monday 22nd July more than 120 staff from Campbell Town DHS, Winnaleah District High School, Bicheno Primary School and St Helens District High School joined the St Marys District School staff at the St Marys Campus for a professional learning day. Teachers and teacher assistants engaged in a rigorous and informative day of professional learning undertaking sessions focused on exploring our Instructional Model; that is looking at the elements of good teaching practice that our teachers will consistently use every day. As this work progresses we will share the elements of this model in future newsletters.

As well as engaging in this learning together, the participants enjoyed a lunch provided by our catering team and coffee and hot chocolate made by our student barista team. Many thanks to the following student baristas for giving up their student free day to support the success of this day.

Monique Dufty
Sylvia Watson
Louis Langoulant
Xavier Langoulant

Our thanks also goes to our Administration and Education Facility Attendant teams for their work in preparing our school for this day. The school looked immaculate and the visitors were very complimentary about our wonderful students, staff and facilities.

Student Attendance – Every day Counts

As we head into the term I would like to remind families of the importance of students attending school every day, unless sick. Classroom learning programs are not ‘one off’ events – this means that each day’s learning builds on the learning from the day before. If your child misses a day it can be very difficult for them to catch up the learning they miss and this does impact on their understanding and future learning and achievement. Please see the table below for more information on time missed from school.

GRADE 6 CERAMICS IN THE ART ROOM

The students from Grade 6 were invited to the Art room to develop individual mould pots and to have a taste as to what Art, as an option, would be like for Grade 7 next year. All students were excited and enjoyed learning different techniques in the Art room.

GRADE 7-8C HASS

We have been studying the “Polynesian Expansion across the Pacific” in 7-8 HASS.

As part of this unit, students learned about Ta Moko, also known as Maori Tattooing. This is a core component of Maori culture and is recognised as a significant artistic achievement in their society.

Students learned the meaning behind the different Ta Moko symbols and put together their own creative designs. They were then able to transfer their designs onto themselves using temporary henna ink.

Jasmine chose the stingray for her design. In Polynesia, stingrays represent adaption, grace and agility.

The design Jazmyn created symbolises battles, courage and strength.

Mahalia has chosen a traditional Maori spiritual guardian. This guardian has the tail of a hale and the head of a bird.

The lines and patterns chosen by Taylor represent eternity and the path of life.

Montanna selected a turtle for her henna design. In the Polynesian culture turtles represent health, peace and long life.

FINGAL CAMPUS

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Blossom Activity

Prep /1 students made spring blossoms through tearing and glueing tissue paper. This activity was fun but also serves as a good fine motor activity for kids, tearing paper to make the tree leaves. Part of the pleasure of tearing paper is the sound.

Collage activities have many benefits:

• It's an outstanding way to not only help your toddler's fine motor skills develop but to gauge where those skills are at any given time.
• It teaches cause and effect.
• It allows your toddler to express themselves through art when done in an open way.
• It allows for reinforcement of concepts when done in a more guided, structured way.
• It has plenty of art process (which is the part your child loves) and also allows for a finished product.

Kinder Paper Bag Monster

Creative activities provide unconventional ways of self-expression, it helps build on positive experiences and supports positive experiences. It helps build resilience in starting an activity and working through to the end result.

Students drew a plan of what their monster would look like, they then used craft materials to create and decorate their monster. Active discussion and interaction occurred throughout this activity with conversations about what each monster needed and looked like.

Creative activities use individual strengths to challenge and enrich, develop optimism, meaning and purpose. Creative activities increase communication and interpersonal which include social, relational and personal skills.

HOLIDAY REFLECTIONS

In the school holidays we went to town and saw Nan and Pop. We went to lunch with Nan and Pop and then we watched Toy Story. Also in the holidays we got two new little baby lambs. They are both girls and one of them needs her bottle but the other doesn’t need the bottle. Their names are Fatty and Mary. Mary is the one that drinks the bottle but Fatty doesn’t need to drink but she does eat grass.

Indi H.

In the holidays I cut my finger with dad’s chef’s knife when I was making spaghetti bolognaise. We went to the hospital. Daddy put four bandaids on it and when we got to the hospital the end of my finger was purple. The doctor did a lot of stuff on my finger. She put some glue on it.

Illleyna H.

In the school holidays my cousin Keisha came to my house for three days. She lives in Devonport. After the three days we dropped Keisha off at Devonport and we stayed the night. When Keisha stayed we rode Sparky and the motorbikes. We also played with my puppy Brad.

Lily W

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WHAT I DIDN’T DO IN THE HOLIDAYS

I didn’t ride an African elephant but I did ride my pony.
I didn’t stay in Paris but I did stay at my friend’s house for a sleepover.
I didn’t go the Great Barrier Reef but I did go to a beach.
I didn’t make a wedding cake but I did make a chocolate cake.
I didn’t make Toy Story 4 but I did watch it.
I didn’t get a lion for a pet but I did get two lambs.

By Ava Howarka

I didn’t climb a tree but I did climb on the roof of a friend’s house.
I didn’t ride an elephant but I did ride Nikki’s bike.
I didn’t feed my cat but I did feed my dog.
I didn’t go to Tom Cruise’s house but I did go to Thomas, my cousin’s house.
I didn’t go to Los Angeles but I did go to Launceston.
I didn’t get two million dollars to do a movie but I watched a movie.
I didn’t ride a bird but I saw a bird.

By Tysen Gamble

Fingal Campus – new music instruments WOW!!!!

It was just like Christmas!!! How exciting was it for our Fingal students to unpack the delivery of new music instruments to remain on campus for Kinder – Grade 6 use all year round!! A collection of five shiny electric keyboards, twelve colourful ukuleles and four beautiful guitars have created so many awesome music experiences already. Thank you to our principal Mrs. Carolyn Watson for supporting the needs of our Fingal students with the purchase of these magnificent instruments.

Kindergarten Gymnastics – bend, stretch, roll, through, under, over, leap and balance!!

Our early childhood students have commenced gymnastics this term. Students have begun looking at the way their bodies can balance. They have learned two new ‘physical literacy’ words which will assist them to understand the two types of gymnastic balancing. Balancing while moving is called ‘dynamic balance’ and balancing while being still, is called ‘static balance’. Students have been developing their skills on their own, pairs and in small groups. They have been exploring ways to bend and move their bodies. They are using a range of gymnastic images and trying to copy the body shapes. Gymnastics is an area of Physical Education where safety is for oneself and others is very important. Our students are learning to help and support their peers when using gymnastic equipment and doing gymnastic activities. This is called ‘spotting’ for each other. Gymnastics is about moving the body in the following ways – flight, pivoting, hanging, supporting and rolling. So far, the laughter and smiles tell us that gymnastics is a lot of fun!

Prep Health Education with Miss Bramich

Prep Wills students have been learning about how to get along with others in positive ways. The students have played board games, listened to short stories, watched short videos, used art and drawing to express emotions and they have engaged in pair and group discussions. Some students have presented very strong “I” statements by having the courage to engage in public speaking about how they would solve a problem. This has been empowering; resulting in the development of self-confidence and more respectful social skills – speaking and listening.

They are been learning about how to recognise a problem, how to find solutions to problems and to try not to give up until the problem is fixed. They have been learning about ways to resolve conflict by looking at different points of view, understanding that there may be more than one solution to a problem and to develop confidence and courage to attempt to solve a problem. The students have engaged in many problem scenarios and they have had some very deep and meaningful ethical discussions about how to resolve problems so that everyone is happy with the solution. Some of our deeper thinkers are also learning that to get along with others, the idea of “agreeing to disagree” is a strategy that works best. This idea is leading on to some Term 3 Health Education understandings about tolerance and accepting others whether we are the same or different.

GRADE 3-4 GYMNASTICS

Our first Physical Education unit this term is gymnastics. We are beginning with balances and reviewing the safe practises needed in this area.

Building core strength is very important and at this early stage there were some great efforts.

PREP, GRADE 1 AND GRADE 2

The Preps, Grade 1’s and Grade 2’s combined to work on “We are all different on the outside but we are still people”.

They all brought their favourite teddy to school and after an introduction and a story, the children went into small groups of three to discus and note the attributes of their teddies.

Recording was done on a Venn Diagram with some over-lapping to show similarities.

When students returned to the large group we brainstormed what word we could put in the very centre of each Venn Diagram.

Some “teddies” were bears, some elephants, some rabbits and even a hedgehog but they are all toys and very much loved.

ST.MARYS STUDENTS NEED YOUR HELP

On the 2nd of September, Australian Business Week (ABW) starts for participating secondary students. In order for students to get the most out of the week, we are seeking contributions from the community through sponsorship, the provision of mentors, speakers or in kind sponsorship. Please see below additional information about the event. If you would like to be involved, please contact Keziah Nunn via the school office on 6372 3900 or email: keziah.nunn@education.tas.gov.au

How You or Your Organisation Can Become More Involved in ABW Enterprise Education

ABW is a one week program involving students in teams of ten learning about business by running their own computer simulated company, guided by a mentor on loan from business.

ABW is a community based self-help program which now operates in all Australian States.

Students in their thousands across Australia are developing a better understanding of business, its role in the building of a more prosperous nation and gaining a better appreciation of themselves, as the challenge of ABW stimulates them to rise above perceived limitations.

Your role in making this happen is invaluable, but perhaps through your circumstance or organisation, you can do even more.

Many organisations are making a contribution through sponsorship, the provision of mentors, speakers or in kind sponsorship. If you would like to find out more about ABW and how you or your organisation can participate further, please contact Keziah Nunn via the school office on 6372 3900 or email: Keziah.Nunn@education.tas.gov.au

Update on the Woolworths Sticker Collection Programme – Karen Bramich

Once again, our school community has participated in this nation-wide redemption programme whereby the school receives new education equipment and resources as a result of collecting stickers when you shop at Woolworths. Since Woolworths began this initiative, I have coordinated this programme for our school (and the similar Coles Sports for Schools Programme). To get the most value out of our sticker points and to be as fair as possible across all grades, I allocate the sticker points value to a different grade each year. The other alternative is to divide the sticker points value up between all the classes. Unfortunately this results in each class getting very little to ‘spend’. For example one class might get a box of rulers, one class might get a calculator and another class might get a couple of mini white boards. Not particularly exciting for each class. So this year it was the St. Marys Kindergarten class whose turn it is to take advantage of our sticker points. Mrs. Bec Hibberd and I worked together to choose educational items that would be of great benefit in the classroom to help achieve wonderful learning outcomes and for our children to have a range of fun and exciting learning experiences. 4080 stickers were received in total.

I would like to thank and acknowledge the following people and families for their contribution to this year’s order of resources. When the items arrive in the post in Term 4, I will post some pictures in one of the Term 4 newsletters. It is so exciting to unpack these items!!

Anonymous donations – 1380 stickers
Nicholas Robbie – 60 stickers
Jimmy Freiboth – 60 stickers
The Bishop Family – 180 stickers
Paige Walker – 120 stickers
Charlotte Robson – 180 stickers
The Sweet Family – 480 stickers
Mrs. Dylis Fyle – 300 stickers
Layla and Asha Woods – 120 stickers
Mia and Oliver Hibberd – 300 stickers
Kayden and Tayah Rigby – 540 stickers
Amali Lowe – 60 stickers
Luka and Aiden Woods – 180 stickers
Kate Aulich – 60 stickers
Indigo Burrows – 60 stickers
Hamish Davenport – 60 stickers

Mrs. Hibberd has chosen five wonderful items. She has selected a large transparent number system using numbers 0 -9 to support our Kinders with early counting skills. With great excitement, she has also order an amazing “Listening Post”. This is a device that will allow Mrs. Hibberd to play an audio story or music and a group of children can connect with separate head phones and listen at once allowing other children in the class to work on other tasks without disruption. A magnificent wooden Maths Counting and Tens Frame set was another item that will be fantastic to use. For Science and Health Education, Mrs. Hibbered ordered an amazing set of fixed bone x-rays. These allow the children to understand how the body works and what bones look like on the inside. How exciting! The last item was a collection of bright chalks to create wonderful art work on the footpaths around the Kindergarten space. We look forward to receiving these packages and to see the smiles on the children’s faces as they have fun using them.

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

SECONDARY

WHOLE SCHOOL

East Coast Combined Choir – Music Event – Selected students

MISCELLANEOUS