Welcome to week 8 of Term 2.

A lot of exciting events have happened this term with one of them being the Interschool Cross Country event held at Bayview High School on the Eastern Shore. Although the day was grey and cold, the team were enthusiastic and motivated to do their best. They are to be congratulated for their stellar efforts in the cool and windy conditions. For some, it was their first time competing for the school. Well done on being courageous and willing to have a go at something new and challenging. The students represented our school beautifully and were a credit to us all. They achieved some brilliant results. Thank you to Mr Coppleman and Mr Guilliamse for supporting the students and for the parents who attended, providing a fantastic cheer squad for our athletes.

I always find it interesting when I think about what school is for. It is certainly for academic education, but it is also more than that. It is a place where students come to grow as a person and a learner. It is about developing a growth mindset – the attitude that with perseverance and practice, you can achieve at your highest level and know that it takes time. It is a place where we can grow in confidence and share thoughts and opinions. It is a place where we celebrate the successes of our students and cheer them on when they contribute to the positive culture of our school. With this in mind, it is important that we share the appropriate ways to solve conflict and come to positive resolutions if things do not go our way.

One way that we can all work together to continue to create a positive culture in our school is to have an open and honest communication between home and school. If you have concerns about your child, please make a time to see the class teacher about your concerns. Likewise – share the good news stories! Our staff wish for the best for our students. They set high expectations for behaviour and encourage them to think about making positive choices, both in the playground and classroom. One way to support this is to talk with your child about making positive choices and encouraging them to set high expectations for themselves. Our focus this week will be on making appropriate choices when talking with others. Disrespectful language will not be tolerated at school. Our aim is to encourage the use of kind and thoughtful interactions with each other.

Some of our community may have heard our fire alarm being activated today. This was a Fire Evacuation drill done in order to test our processes to ensure that we all know what to do in the case of a real fire. The children were brilliant. They came out of their classrooms in a respectful, mature way and lined up on the oval as asked. They waited patiently until the completion of the drill and then returned to class. This is of course not something that happens every day of the week. 

The Department of Education, Children and Young People will be having a focused media campaign on the use of respectful behaviours in school settings. There will be television, social media and print advertising reminding us all of the expected behaviours in schools. They have also introduced a new online information hub for families – assisting with the navigation of education from birth up until the age of 18. Read below for further information!

New online information hub for families

Some exciting news! The Department for Education, Children and Young People has recently launched a new online information hub for families with school-aged children in Tasmania. Our new website has information to help you navigate your child's education, from birth all the way up to 18 years of age.

Visit our new webpage at Welcome to your child's Tasmanian education - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au) (https://www.decyp.tas.gov.au/information-for-families-and-students)

Some of the things you’ll find include:

• tips on how to support your child’s learning at home
• information to help you keep your child safe and well
• a guide to explore courses for the career they want
• school holiday and term dates

We hope this website will be a valuable tool for you as you help your child navigate their education journey. We would love to know what you think of our new information hub for families. You can tell us by completing a quick survey on the webpage.

As always, the door is always open if you would like to pop in.

Our Pre-Kinder Program began last Friday 9 June 2023 with great success. We welcome Pre-Kinder children and their families along to future sessions throughout the remainder of Term 2. 

What is Pre-Kinder?

Pre-Kinder is for children who will begin Kindergarten in 2024 at Austins Ferry Primary School. This program is designed to support you with your child's transition to Kindergarten. Through play, children will develop language and communication skills, social skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-management and importantly, they will build a sense of confidence and belonging within the school community. 

About the sessions:

Pre-Kinder runs Fridays from 9:00am-10:00am in the Launching into Learning classroom, located inside the Gracie Crichton-Gill Early Learning Centre. 

Parent/carer supervision is required at all sessions. Unfortunately we are unable to support siblings. 

Please bring a named hat, a piece of fruit or vegetable and a water bottle. 

RSVP: Feel welcome to drop into our school office, a Launching into Learning session or a Pre-Kinder session to enrol. 

Our Parks and Wildlife Incursion

On Tuesday 13  June 1/2 Sandhu, 1/2 Lincolne/Parker and 1/2 Taylor/Huizing had a visit from Lou and Keith from Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife.

One half of our class went with Mrs Lincolne’s class, and the other half went with Mrs Taylor’s class. We did some different activities about living things.

One group went to Mrs Taylor’s room with Lou, we learned about Tasmanian Native Animals. Lou taught us about Tasmanian Devils. We learnt that they have backwards pouches for their babies because they dig holes and they don’t want get dirt in their pouches. Lou told us that Tasmanian Devil babies are the size of a grain of rice and only two survive from twenty! Lou also taught us about venomous animals, we talked about snakes, spiders and male platypus. We got to touch some snakes that were mounted on a board. There was a white lipped snake, tiger snake and a copper head snake.

In Mrs Lincolne's classroom, we were learning about Water Bugs! Keith had collected some water from a waterway and pond near him. We went into groups and we used spoons and magnifying glasses and tried to find different living things in the water he collected. We learned that some water bugs like clean water and some like dirty water, this helps scientists know about how clean or dirty water is. We looked that some bugs we found through a microscope. After some close searching we found lots of water bugs.

In the afternoon we all went together into Mrs Lincolne’s room and had a talk about the similarities and differences between water bugs and the native animals. We also looked at the different national parks in Tasmania.

We had a great day with the other Year 1s and 2s, Lou and Keith.

In 3/4 Gollogly, we have been developing our persuasive writing skills by exploring the language features and structure of a persuasive text. While learning about ocean life within our Submerged inquiry unit, we felt compelled to inform readers of the impact plastic pollution is having on sea turtles. Our class discovered that sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, and fishing nets for seaweed, both of which are a staple food in their diet. We researched the ways in which ingested plastic affects a turtle’s insides, as well as the types of injuries caused by entanglement. We were shocked to find that it can take hundreds of years for plastic to break down in water and that 130,000 tonnes of plastic finds its way into the Australian marine environment each year. The research we conducted helped us form strong, evidence-based arguments. We continued our efforts to help protect the vulnerable species and restore their watery habitats by adopting a turtle through WWF Australia.

Keep young minds and hands busy during the July school holidays and nurture your child’s creativity and love for performance and visual arts.

Check out our full program of creative workshops, including stop motion animation, Arabic calligraphy, landscape painting techniques, circus and more.

Plus, come along to our free Family Fun Open Day at MAC on Tuesday 18 July from 10am until 1pm.

Snuggle into a bean bag and watch an animated film, sing along with Lorin the Mermaid, create your own Arabic calligraphy, get stuck into arts and crafts and more. 

For more information and to book your place in one of our workshops, visit www.moonahartscentre.org.au/kids