13 September 2019
Newsletter Articles
- PRINCIPALS REPORT
- ART – A VISUAL METAPHOR
- GRADE PREP, ONE AND TWO Maths
- GRADE 2/3 DAFFODIL DAY ART WORK
- EAST COAST CHOIR (ECC) DAY 2 FRIDAY 16TH AUGUST
- KINDER TO GRADE 2 GYMNASTICS WITH MISS BRAMICH
- KINDER’S AND GRADE 7-8’S
- KINDER – GRADE 2 PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND PROBLEM SOLVING
- UPPER PRIMARY MUSIC with Miss Bramich
- FINGAL EC1
- AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS WEEK
- LAUNCHING INTO LEARNING FARM VISIT
- LIFT
- THE SECRET POWER OF READING IN GRADES PREP-1-2
- SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENTS
- COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRINCIPALS REPORT
A Celebration of Student Learning in Music
I consider myself to be incredibly lucky. Every day I have the opportunity to share in the teaching and learning that is occurring at St Marys District School. Whenever I am able, I like to be in classrooms, talking with students about their learning. These moments are the highlights of my days. Last week, I clicked on an email that gave me an unexpected opportunity to experience one of these highlights.
Mr Wardlaw had sent me an email with a link to an audio file that contained a song written and performed by two of our students, Nakita Pirangi-White and Maggie Egan. The girls have been working on this as a follow up to the Song Makers workshop held earlier in the year. I urge you to click on the link below to listen to Nakita and Maggie’s original work, Ugly Thoughts.
The second audio file included in this report is a wonderful rendition of ‘Mad World’ performed by Erinn Spilsbury, Chloe Malley and Georgia Nisbet along with the East Coast Combined Choir.
If you would like to hear more of our student’s original works tune into Star FM. Mr Wardlaw has provided Star FM with a CD of the songs produced through the Song Maker Workshop that was held at our school earlier this year.
School Satisfaction Survey
The Annual School Satisfaction Surveys for parents is being conducted during August and September 2019 across Tasmanian government schools. The surveys provide an opportunity for parents and carers to give important feedback on what the school does well and where we can improve. Questions cover a range of topics about our school and responses are anonymous. Parents will have received further information in the mail, including the website address and a unique password to access the survey online.
I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to complete the survey to give our school a clear direction for future improvement priorities and school programs for students. If you require further information, would like a paper copy of the survey to complete or would like to access a school computer to complete the survey please contact our school office on (03) 63 723 900.
Permission to Leave the School
On Tuesday of this week students from Grades 7-10 received a notice to bring home to parents with details of our school expectations and process for leaving the school grounds during the day. Students in Grades 7-10 are expected to remain on the school grounds throughout the school day and they are not permitted to leave the school grounds. We understand that occasionally students may need to visit such service providers as the bank, post office or chemist and on these occasions students are required to bring a signed and dated note from their parents for each individual occasion. These notes need to be taken to a senior staff member for a signature and then left at the school office. Students are then required to sign out as they leave the school and sign back in on their return. Please note, students will not be given permission to leave the school grounds to purchase food or drink as we have a school canteen which must be supported by both students and staff to ensure its ongoing viability into the future. If you have any questions about these expectations please contact one of our senior staff members by phoning the school office on (03) 63 723 900.
School Calendar
ART – A VISUAL METAPHOR
Students in Art were asked to create a visual metaphor that described how they felt about themselves. A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes a subject asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated subject.
I am a bookworm!
Tasharna Pursell
I am a broken heater. You never know when I work and I only have 2 settings.
Lily Haarmann
My heart is like a puzzle. It is hard to solve.
Julia Bibby
I see with my heart!
Ellie Gamble
GRADE PREP, ONE AND TWO Maths
Our learning intention in Mathematics for the fortnight is estimating and counting collections, skip counting using a variety of patterns with numbers anywhere from 1 to 1,000 and more and adding collections using number lines. Our mathematical lessons are always accompanied with concrete materials and often it will involve group work. Here we are estimating and counting collections the quickest way we can.





GRADE 2/3 DAFFODIL DAY ART WORK
We have been learning about Daffodil Day and why it is important to support people who are sick, as well as their families. In preparation for Daffodil Day, we did some cheerful and uplifting still life pictures. We used a combination of mediums including grey lead pencil, water colours, pastels, paper collage, dye wash, textas and colour pencils.





EAST COAST CHOIR (ECC) DAY 2 FRIDAY 16TH AUGUST
Day 2 of the ECCC began with an early bus trip to Launceston with Miss Bramich and Mr. Hoskinson to sing and record songs at Scotch Oakburn College in collaboration with students from other schools. Mr. Wardlaw met us in Launceston at Scotch Oakburn College. Our students were SO excited as they knew they were to meet a number of professional musicians and producers to guide them through the day….and what a day it was! It was indeed the most wonderful experience for our teachers and students. Our students engaged in body and voice warm-ups with Scotch, Bicheno, Swansea and St. Helens students. Lunch was a BBQ – an indoor BBQ because the day was cold and wet outside – totally different to the warmth, fun, friendship and laughter inside! During the lunch break, some of our students had a jam on the instruments. Byron Woods brought the house down with his impromptu drum solos!! Our students were able to meet the producers and musicians and in a “Q and A” session in the afternoon, students were able to ask questions about the recording process and how the sounds were made using digital technology. Nikki Gamble was one of the solo singers and her voice sounded beautiful on the final recording. We look forward to sharing the polished songs with our school community in the near future. Congratulations to all our students on two days of amazing music and outstanding behaviour. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of students to represent our school at this fantastic music event. Well done to everyone!!
Karen Bramich





KINDER TO GRADE 2 GYMNASTICS WITH MISS BRAMICH
The early childhood grades have now concluded their gymnastics experiences with Miss Bramich. Through explicit, guided and exploratory activities, our students have learned to move their bodies safely in many ways. Types of movements have included how to hang, swing, balance, roll, spin, take-off and land. Activities included rhythmical gymnastics with ribbons, floor tumbling on the mats, body management on high and low balance beams and sections of the vaulting box. St. Marys Kindergarten students also had great fun working with buddies from Grade 7/8B. Well done to these secondary students for supporting our Kindergarten students, demonstrating excellent behaviour, modelling gymnastics skills, and above all, having FUN! Please enjoy this collection of gymnastic pictures. It has been a pleasure delivering this Gymnastic programme to our Kinder – Grade 2 students.
Karen Bramich
Fingal Campus PE





KINDER – GRADE 2 GYM WORK





KINDER’S AND GRADE 7-8’S





KINDER GYMNASTICS





KINDER – GRADE 2 PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Our Kindergarten to Grade 2 students have been applying their problem solving skills to physical movement. How can we move from A to B? How can we move equipment and people without touching the floor? How can we lift, push, roll, balance and support each other and equipment in a safe way? Please enjoy these pics of our students engaging in many fun and exciting Physical Education activities. Karen Bramich





UPPER PRIMARY MUSIC with Miss Bramich
By the looks on the students’ faces, it certainly looks like the Music room is the place to be!! Our students are learning about tempo, rhythm and beat through free movement and by playing a range of percussion instruments whilst moving. The students were given the opportunity to compose a song. The task was to write a “jingle”. They had to create a product to sell or a service to offer and to write a jingle to promote their product or service. Part of the process was to identify the important parts of a jingle and so the students watched a professional company make a jingle via Youtube. During the process of jingle writing, our students understood the difference between a ‘logo’ and a ‘slogan’. Through games and fun activities, our students are learning to deepen their understanding of music notation and how to use their lips, teeth, tongue and facial muscles to warm up their voice before commencing singing. Please enjoy these pics of our students engaging in their Music lessons.
Karen Bramich





FINGAL EC1
EC1 students created posters about their Secret Reading Powers as part of our Book Week. It was great to discover hidden abilities and remind students that they could use them every time they faced a reading challenge.





AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS WEEK
St Marys and St Helens District School students joined forces last week for another successful Australian Business Week. This year saw students’ focused on the café industry and the week kicked off at St Helens with a panel of local industry experts. Monday and Tuesday were packed full of workshops, team meetings, and generally a lot of confusion. As the week progressed, the students’ ideas and product concepts sharpened and productivity greatly increased. The week culminated in the trade display held at St Marys on Friday. This showcased all of the teams’ amazing work, including presentation of their business pitches, commercials, and product launches.
The week was a huge success due to the volunteers involved in the program. St Marys District School would like to thank the following people for presenting: Jo Waldron, Caitlyn Sherry-Dadd, Chris Reid, Carrie Wallis, Jayne Richardson and Simon Holmes. We would also like to thank the following mentors: Elaine Sullivan, Caitlyn Sherry-Dadd and Jacqui Lockwood, and the judges: Simon Holmes, Robyn Hickey, Frank Piscitelli and Jo Waldron.
All of the students involved are to be commended on the maturity, creativity and resilience that they showed during the week. The nature of the program ensures that the more students put in the more they get out, and this was evident in the students who were fully committed. The teams were judged on their performance within the following categories:
Product commercial: 1st Spokes
Café (SHDS), 2nd Relax Café (SMDS), 3rd Hott Shotz (SHDS)
Sales pitch: 1st Relax Café (SMDS), 2nd Warlu Way
Café (SMDS), Spokes Café (SHSD)
Business Report: 1st Warlu Way Café (SMDS), 2nd
Sweet Eco (SHDS), 3rd Relax café (SMDS) and Replenish Café (SMDS)
Product: 1st Warlu Way Café (SMDS), 2nd Sweet Eco
(SHDS), 3rd Replenish Café (SMDS)
Stock Market Simulation: 1st Hott Shotz (SHDS),
2nd Relax Café (SMDS), 3rd Replenish Café (SMDS)
Trade display: 1st Hott Shotz (SHDS), 2nd Warlu
Way Café (SMDS), 3rd Spokes Café (SHDS)
Overall placings: 1st Warlu Way Café
(SMDS), 2nd Relax Café (SMDS) and 3rd Hott Shotz (SHDS).





LAUNCHING INTO LEARNING FARM VISIT
The Launching into Learning families had a fantastic time visiting the school farm. We saw our new lambs, gobbled at the noisy turkeys, visited our resident pigs and fed hay to Daisy, Tulip and Larry, our pet cows. The bee hives were very interesting but our favourite animals by far, were the very cute, two day old chickens. They felt so soft and fluffy!
The children found interesting treasures and explored the farm, under the guidance of our farm hand Craig, who showed us around. We finished our time with some planting in the greenhouse and pulled some fresh baby carrots to eat while we enjoyed a story in the community garden.
We are so lucky to have such a wonderful resource for our school community to enjoy! It has been hands down one of our most favourite LiL adventures this year.





LIFT
Make a boat that floats challenge- Kinder to Grade 6
It was wonderful to receive 21 entries for our boat challenge. Congratulations to the prize draw winner, Lachie Woods! Enjoy some of the fantastic boat designs in our photo gallery.
Challenge #2: Egg Parachute
Can you design and build a parachute that can deliver your passenger safely to the ground from a height?
Complete our family LIFT challenge to go in the draw to win a prize from our new school prize box. Show your teacher a photo of your challenge participation (or via your class dojo) or email a photo to Mrs Mason with your name and class by the 20th September and your name will go in the draw.
rebecca.mason@education.tas.gov.au
The winning ticket will be announced in the next newsletter.
Family members are encouraged to assist and help out where they can!
LIFT Cooking with Kinder
Parents and grandparents have spent time in the kitchen cooking with their children, as part of our Feed My Family LIFT initiative. The whole class joined in for the last session, where students developed cooking skills and taste tested oaty apple pikelets, fresh berry smoothies, hearty wraps and fruit with pear dipping sauce. Such a fun experience for all involved. This was the last group of students to participate in the initiative which has collaborated with Hub 4 Health through a Healthy Community Grant. A huge thank you to all the families who have participated over the last twelve months! Check out our Kinder photo gallery, it is bound to make you smile.




Boat Photo





Kinder Photo
THE SECRET POWER OF READING IN GRADES PREP-1-2
This year’s Book week bought us lots of powers and magical moments. We all dressed up as our favourite book characters. The week was filled with lots of reading and activities related to books. We dressed up as super heroes, fairy tale characters, animal characters and more. Take a look at the super readers below.





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.
SECONDARY
Sports Exchange to St.Helens – Secondary students
WHOLE SCHOOL
Performance – “Cinderella” performed by a travelling troupe called Alpha Shows
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOTICEBOARD
Table Tennis - Community Group - St Marys School Gym
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