Dear Families,

I would like to extend a warm welcome back to our existing families and a special welcome to all new students and their families especially the Kindergarten families as they commence their learning journey. 

We had a fabulous start to 2023 and we are so proud of the way our students settled into school and their classrooms. Before school commenced teachers worked tirelessly to ensure that classroom learning environments were ready to go and looking fantastic. Our fabulous Teacher Assistants and EFA’s were also busy before school started to make sure the school and classrooms looked amazing and welcoming to all. Thank you to all staff for the efforts that you have put in to making our start to the year smooth and engaging.

Yesterday we held our welcome afternoon, and it was great to see so many of our wonderful families attending. A big thank you to Mr Dand (Chris), Mr Bennett (Steve), Mr Webster and their team of helpers Toby H, Kaidyn K, Harper H, Brooke S, Declan J, Elle D and Toby H for assisting with the barbecue.

It gives me great pleasure to announce our wonderful team for 2023:

Teaching staff -  Mrs Emily Roberts - Assistant Principal (Teaching and Learning Leader), Mrs Rachel Kitto - Assistant Principal (Student Support and Wellbeing Leader), Ms Georgina Field (AST Early Years LiL/LIFT Co-coordinator), Miss Emily Sutton (Kinder),  Miss Chloe Street  (Prep/1), Mrs Madeline Rizzolo (1/2), Miss Sophie Levett (2/3), Miss Sian Prior (3/4),  Miss Teri-Lee Pidgeon (3/4), Miss Stacey Lovell (5/6), Miss Harriet Wilson (5/6), Mrs Louise Hedge (Support Teacher), Ms Amberley Jones (Literacy Intervention/Support), Mr Mitchell Webster (Resource Teacher) Miss Kate Prendergast (Sustainability) and (HPE).

Ancillary staff: Ms Tracy Burn (School Business Manager), Mrs Janina Saville (Admin Clerk), Erin Deverell (Aboriginal Program Worker) Ms Jo Percy (Education Support Specialist),  Mrs Sue Riley (Teacher Assistant and Kitchen Specialist), Mrs Linda McKenzie (Teacher Assistant – Library), Mrs Donna Hudson (Teacher Assistant), Mrs Amanda Griffiths (Teacher Assistant - Speech), Mrs Alana Berry (Teacher Assistant), Mrs Kelly Clark (Teacher Assistant Kitchen/Garden), Miss Lilly Barwick (Teacher Assistant)  Ms Anna Tulloch (Teacher Assistant), Miss Hayley Sharp (Teacher Assistant), Mrs Sharon Clark (Teacher Assistant), Mr Bryce Roberts (Teacher Assistant), Mr Steve Bennett (EFA – Groundsman), Miss Donna Gregson EFA/Cleaner and Mr Carl Jones (EFA/Cleaner).

Support Staff: Ms Jacqui Bostock (Social Worker), Ms Rachelle Dolzan (School Psychologist) Miss Oliva Archer (Speech Pathologist), Mrs Georgina MacDonald (School Nurse) and Mr Chris Dand (Home School Liaison Officer).  

We are very excited to announce that we will be able to return to offering programs and events to our school calendar and we are all looking forward to hosting our Grade 3 - 6 Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 7 March and an Early Years Easter Carnival on Wednesday 5 April.

On Monday next week Ms Field will be taking a group of students from the 5/6 classes to participate in the launch of a uniquely Tasmanian book “We Love Country” that celebrates the many ways Aboriginal people connect with Country.  Students will be leaving school at 10.30 a.m. and should return by 11.30 a.m.  Notices will be sent home this week.

NAPLAN testing for students in years 3 and 5 this year is being held in term 1 and testing will commence on Wednesday 15 March and finish on Monday 27 March.

The Growing Up Program will be held Monday 27 March to Thursday 30 March.  More information will go home to parents closer to the program commencing.

The staff and I look forward to working with you this year.

Carolyn Brown, Principal

We would like to warmly welcome a number of new staff members to our school for 2023.

Please say hello to these friendly faces if you see them walking around.

Emily Roberts	Emily Sutton	Harriet Wilson	Mitch Webster	Kate Prendergast	Teri-Lee Pidgeon
Asst Principal	Kinder Teacher	5/6 Teacher	Relief Teacher	PE Teacher	3/4 Teacher

We would also like to welcome back Kelly, Anna, Sharon, Lilly, Hayley and Bryce to our 2023 Teacher Assistant Team, joining Amanda, Alana, Linda and Sue.  Kachina will be working as our garden specialist for the first term whilst Matt is taking leave.

It is also great to have our School Nurse, Georgina MacDonald working with us every Wednesday this year.  So happy to have her back at Herdsmans Cove.

Students in 5/6 Lovell have been conducting interviews with our new staff over the past few weeks.  We will be featuring more interviews in future newsletters.  This week's focus is on Mr Webster, Thurs/Fri Teacher and Miss Sutton our Kindergarten teacher.

Miss Sutton  Why did you want to become a teacher? I love to help children learn. When you were at school, what was your favourite subject? My favourite subject when I was at school was music. What is your favourite colour? Purple. Do you have pets? I have a dog named Elsie. What are some of your interests/hobbies? I enjoy sewing. What is your favourite book? Mr Huff. What has been one of your greatest accomplishments? One of my greatest accomplishments has been completing my Pokedex. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? I would like the ability to become invincible. What is something that makes you smile? Spending time with my family always makes me happy.

It was wonderful to have so many families join us for a welcome barbecue after school yesterday afternoon.

Families got to talk to teachers and visit classrooms while children enjoyed a play and sausage sizzle.

A special thank you to Ms Field for organising the event and to Mr Dand, Mr Bennett, Mr Webster and our student volunteers for helping out on the day.

Oral Health Services will be visiting our school from Friday 3 March through to Friday 10 March offering children a safe, easy and painless way of protecting their teeth from tooth decay.

Please complete the registration form that was sent home earlier this week to students in Kinder, Prep, Grades 1, 2 and 6 as soon as possible.  Thank you to those parents that have already returned their forms.

Unfortunately, your child will miss out on this important program if the completed form is not returned to school.

The School Food Matters Lunch Program will commence in week 3 (next Wednesday).  Children in all classes will have meals delivered to their classroom between 12.30 p.m. to 1.00 p.m.

This term lunches will be rotated weekly with pasta bolognaise and salad and savoury slice with quinoa salad.

2023 permission forms were sent home last week.  If you haven't returned your form to the school please send it into the office as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Students will be sitting NAPLAN between 15 and 27 March 2023.

The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance; however, students and parents may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.

This is the first year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year.

Why NAPLAN is conducted online

NAPLAN online provides a better assessment and more precise results.

One of the main benefits of NAPLAN online is that it uses tailored (or adaptive) testing. This means that students receive questions better suited to their abilities, so they can show what they know and can do.

Online testing also allows us to provide a wide range of accessibility options to support students with disability to access NAPLAN.

Feedback from students is that they find the online test more engaging.

Please note that students in Year 3 complete the Writing Test on paper.

Parent information brochures and other resources

Your questions answered on NAPLAN and what it means for your child:

NAPLAN information brochure for parents and carers

The link will take you to the official National Assessment Program (NAP) website.

Please contact the school if you have any further queries.