Dear Families

We are so grateful for your ongoing support during these very different times and thank you for adhering to health and wellbeing safety protocols.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to our amazing teachers and teacher assistants for their flexibility in adjusting teaching and learning programs to support changes in the classroom.

This week we held elections for student leadership opportunities in our school including our Student Representative Council and House Captains for sporting events and carnivals. Students made us feel ever so proud as they prepared and presented great speeches to staff and students.   The final votes aren’t in yet, but we are looking forward to finding out who will be our leaders this year.  Watch this space.

Carolyn Brown, Principal

Here are some pictures from Prep/1 in the first few weeks of term.

We have begun to learn our letter sounds, focusing on ‘s’ ‘a’ ‘t’ and ‘p’ so far.  We have been making the letters out of playdough and beginning to make a letter sound book by drawing pictures to go with each letter sound as we learn them.

We have also been learning about pattern. What it is and how to create, and continue patterns. Students have been using coloured counters, gems, stackable counters and more to show their understanding that a pattern repeats itself.

New changes to hay fever advice

Public Health has reviewed their advice about hay fever in the current COVID-19 environment.

Hay fever symptoms are similar to COVID-19 symptoms, so it’s important families know what they need to do if their child experiences hay fever symptoms.

If your child has hay fever symptoms, please keep them at home and test for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test (RAT).

If your child tests negative on a RAT and symptoms continue, Public Health advises that you must do a second RAT 24 hours later, or seek a PCR test. 

If the second RAT or PCR remains negative, this is sufficient evidence for your child to return to school if they feel well.

If symptoms change or increase in severity, please see your treating medical practitioner for review.

Please know that Public Health advice can change at short notice, and we appreciate your patience as we respond to these changes as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, please contact the school office. For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

Hi Everyone,

What an amazing start to the school year it has been in HPE. We have been very busy little people with a lot of different activities on show. Traditionally in term one we focus on gross motor skills such as skipping, running, jumping, hopping and throwing. However, this year we have started with a unit of tennis and we will be lucky enough to have the North Melbourne Football Club pop in for a visit in week 6. We are also commencing our running trials in week 5 so please ensure students wear the right shoes for PE on Thursday and Friday.

Nutrition and the food we eat is so important for our students stamina and concentration during the school day.  We love to see them with a drink bottle full of water and lunch boxes filled with healthy snacks such as fruit, yoghurt and sandwiches. One of my favourite things to eat is muesli slice with nuts, oats, honey and dried apricots all mixed together.

If you ever have any questions about HPE please feel free to call me,

James Milne, Assistant Principal/HPE Teacher

Welcome to a new school year! My name is Nurse Emma, I am your School Health Nurse for 2022. I will be working every Tuesday at Herdsmans Cove and look forward to meeting everyone. 

This is my first year in this role, prior to this I have spent the last 7 years working in various roles at the hospital and in GP clinics. When I’m not at work, I enjoy spending time at the beach, walking, gardening, and spending quality time with my son and cat.

School nurses work quite differently to what is often expected.  The primary school health nurse provides health education and health promotion to students and the school community. I will be spending much of my time completing kindergarten health assessments and engaging in class lesson and group activities surrounding health and wellbeing. Vision and hearing assessments are also available on request if there is a specific concern passed on via a parent, teacher, or senior staff. Consent must be signed by a parent/ guardian prior to all assessments, including kindergarten health assessments.

 Please feel free to visit me for a chat or contact me via the school office on Tuesdays if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s health or the role of the school nurse.  If I am unable to help you with your query, I will likely be able to refer you to someone who can. 

I look forward to meeting you and hope that your child/ren have had a positive start to the year.

Kind Regards,

Nurse Emma

Please return your updated validation forms to the office as soon as possible.

Validation forms were sent home at the end of last year with student reports.  Student permissions must be completed every calendar year to remain valid for the year ahead.

If you have misplaced your form or require a new one, please contact the office.

Thank you.

Registration forms from Oral Health Services Tasmania will be sent home to students in Kindergarten, Prep, Grade 1, 2 and Grade 6.

The program will be held at our school during term 2.  All completed forms should be returned to the office no later than Thursday 7 April.

Here is some information about the program.