Dear Families,

Over the past week our school has been a hive of activity through student and parent participation in a range of school/community engagement activities.

It was so wonderful to see our families at our Mother’s Day pampering sessions last Thursday and Friday.   Students were highly engaged in pampering and looking after their special person. A big thank you to Miss Field and Chris for organising and supporting the session. 

And we are off and running! Our Cross-Country trials were held yesterday. Even though it was a cold start to the day, the sun shone upon us, creating perfect conditions for the event.  We were all impressed with the wonderful behaviour of students and their have a go attitude.  Miss Prendergast did a fantastic job with the organisation of the event and the day was a great success. Thank you to all the House Captains for helping with the marshalling on the course. Students who earned a significant place in their individual event will be invited to represent the school at the Interschool Cross Country on 7 June and will be acknowledged in our next newsletter. Well done everyone!

Each year on May 16, we celebrate and recognise the wonderful work of our Education Support Personnel (ESP) and their contribution to education. We are so incredibly grateful, for all that our fabulous Teacher Assistants do to support our teachers, students, and school.

In the coming weeks we will be sharing updated information about the DECYP process for reporting to families and School - Parent Learning Conversations will be held in Week 10. More details will be sent out in the coming weeks along with the process for booking meeting times.

Carolyn Brown, Principal

On Thursday and Friday last week Miss Field organised two pampering sessions for our mums and special person in our lives.  It was lovely to see so many people come and share in an afternoon with their loved ones, having afternoon tea, getting nails painted and making special crafts.

Miss P. held cross country trials yesterday during class PE sessions.  It was great to see everyone participating.  A big thank you to our house captains for making the trials such a huge success.

We look forward to announcing the Cross Country Team that will be representing our school on Wednesday 7 June at Bayview.

Our grade 5/6 students took part in an information session, learning about the impact of smoking and vaping on our bodies.

Here are some comments from our students about what they learnt at the session:

Mary-Anne: I learnt that smoking and vaping can become extremely addictive. So you should never try it.

Cade: I learnt that vapes have over 100 thousand chemicals in them.

Chaice: I learnt that vaping and smoking can kill your lungs in all kinds of ways. For example you can’t run as well.

The rising number of children and young people vaping is a growing issue of concern in our community.  

Electronic cigarettes (vapes) can be appealing to young people due to bright colours and flavours. But no vapes are safe as they are often full of harmful chemicals and nicotine.  For this reason, vapes can be addictive and harmful for lungs, brain development and general health.  

It is important to talk to your children about vaping. Try to be understanding, compassionate and non-judgemental as you support them to learn more about the dangers of vaping or in seeking support to quit. 

Information on what vaping is, the impacts and how to support your child is available on the new Department for Education, Children and Young People webpage on vaping, which can be accessed here: 

https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/about-us/projects/child-student-wellbeing/vaping/  

Here is some information about Ready Steady Go Kids. We are Australia’s largest multisport program for 1.5-6 yr olds. We launched in Hobart in Term 1 this year and had such a great first term. We have just gotten under way again for our second term and ask if you would be able to share us within your communities. We have two venues: Moonah Sports Centre and The Cricket Hub Tasmania in Kingston. We cover 10 different sports and help to develop gross and fine motor skills, as well as social skills, helping to support school readiness. We are aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework and already have some incredible testimonials from our first term.

“My daughter takes a while to warm up to new people and was a little unsure at first. But she warmed up so fast and her confidence with the teachers grew really quickly. She loves trying the different sports and as a parent it's so wonderful to see her celebrate learning a new skill that she had to work to master. The pride she takes in herself is so heartwarming to watch. A really wonderful program.”

                                                            Ms Mackie (Moonah Sports Centre)

 “We're so happy to have found an inclusive class that's so much fun.”

                                                            Ms Rogers (The Cricket Hub Tasmania, Kingston)