Exciting Changes to Our Home Reading Program

Dear families,

We are thrilled to share some exciting news about our home reading program that will help our beginning readers become even more confident and skilled. Starting next week, we will be introducing decodable readers into our reading routine.

What are Decodable Readers?

Decodable readers are special books designed to help young readers practise their decoding skills. These books are crafted with words that students can decode easily, along with a few tricky high-frequency words they have learned.

Why are Decodables Great?

Reading decodable books regularly can work wonders for your child. It boosts their confidence, helps them master letter-sound relationships, and improves their reading accuracy and fluency.

To learn more about decodables and how you can support your child at home, we invite you to join us next Wednesday afternoon at 1:45 pm for our information session, just before our open classrooms.

Safety First!

A quick reminder: Helmets are a must when riding bikes and scooters. Please ensure your child wears one to stay safe. Students riding bikes/scooters are asked to meet at the side door of the 3/4 class room at 8:35 am to store them in the bottom courtyard until the end of the school day. And remember, bikes and scooters are not to be ridden within the school premises.

Hats for Spring!

With spring upon us, don't forget to send your child to school with a hat to protect them from the sun. Let's enjoy the beautiful weather while staying sun safe.

Thank you for your support in making Herdsmans Cove Primary a wonderful place for our young learners. We can't wait to see you at our information session next Wednesday.

Warm regards,

Tobin McColl

On Wednesday 6 September our Kinder class went to the JRLF School Farm. The children learned about how food is grown in the garden and helped to harvest some carrots. We also got to see how calves and lambs are bottle fed and we fed some bread to the pigs who, we all agreed, were very cute and very stinky! We finished our time on the farm by helping to collect some eggs and giving the chickens a cuddle.

We would like to say a big thankyou to the JRLF farm staff and our parent helpers who joined us on our excursion. We had a fantastic day and we are so proud of the way our Kinder students listened to the adults and interacted with the animals with respect and kindness.

Communication to Families – School Satisfaction Survey 2023 - Invitation

The 2023 School Satisfaction Surveys are open!

Every year the Department of Education conducts a School Satisfaction Survey to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve.

We would be grateful if you completed our online survey about JRLF - Herdsmans Cove Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school-planning and decision-making.

The survey is open until Friday 22 September 2023 and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Take the online survey by clicking this Link.  or pasting it in your browser: https://ncv.microsoft.com/zlXbeCWiQg

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families have received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools.  Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any DECYP staff.

Please contact the school office on 6263 7843 if you require any assistance.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Tobin McColl, A/Principal

On Tuesday 29 August Kitchen Garden Specialists and members from the 24 Carrot team attended a workshop held at Montrose Bay High school. 

The Term 3 workshop was held in glorious spring weather. Participants of the workshop followed Rainer's expert pruning instructions. The instructions were successful in giving participants the confidence to have a go at pruning the trees at Montrose Bay and they now look very loved! 

Kind thanks to Reuben for co-presenting, Vlad for his kitchen session on pasta making, and Andy for his delicious wood fired pizza production!

Over the last few weeks in the Kitchen/Garden program, the students have been learning all about worms. They have found out how the worms can help our garden and how they break down food. We have started our own worm farm and the students have loved exploring in our garden to find more worms to add to the farm.

The kitchen groups have been busy cooking with our produce grown in the garden. Some of the tasty meals prepared in the kitchen have included kale chips and sauteed cabbage.

 Kate Prendergast | HPE & Sustainability Teacher

Please come along to our Lil session tomorrow morning (9.00 am - 10.15 am) to meet a visiting alpaca from Toffemont Alpacas.

What a fantastic start to Pre Kinder we have had this term. We have enjoyed painting, exploring small worlds, creating with playdough and even building toolboxes! If your child is going to be attending Kindergarten in 2024 (2019 birthdate), please come along to these Pre-K sessions to support your child in a successful transition to school.

Our final session for this term will be Tuesday 19 September from 2:00-2:40pm in the Kindergarten classroom. Pre-Kinder sessions will resume Week 3 in Term 4 on Tuesday 21 October.  We hope to see you all there!

Emily Sutton

REMINDER

Just a friendly reminder that school photo day is this Monday 18 September.

All sibling photos will be taken before school from 8:30 am in the G.P. room. Sibling order forms will be given to families by our photographer once the family photo has been taken.

The school office will no longer distribute sibling order forms.

If you have lost your child's individual order code please contact the office.

On Wednesday 6 September students spent the afternoon enjoying a performance from Terrapin. Terrapin is a group of performers that regularily attend schools performing puppet plays.

These plays are suited to all ages and contain adventures, humour and are very engaging to all audiences.  Our Prep to Year 6 students thoroughly enjoyed the recent performance of "The Riddle of Washpool Gully."

Far beyond the outskirts of the big city, near a tiny town that nearly everyone forgot, lay a dry creek bed of no special significance. Once upon a time it was called Washpool Gully.

But the world had moved on from insignificant things, and no one had time for dry creek beds. Except in Washpool Gully, something was stirring.

Shaken by the rumble of engines and the darkening of the sky, something long asleep had decided to wake up.

Combining old-fashioned storytelling with contemporary puppetry and miniature sets, The Riddle of Washpool Gully is a reimagined tale of Australian mythology about incredible creatures that might still live in the uncharted corners of our vast country.