Dear families

It is great to be back for 2024! I am looking forward to an exciting year of teaching and learning and working with all our community to continue to build our wonderful school. Thank you for your support in making the new school year a positive start for your children. Our staff have put in a lot of hard work to ensure a smooth and positive start to the year. Most staff were back at school well before our starting date to ensure that classrooms were engaging and calm. This has helped our students settle back into the routines of school. When we all work together it certainly helps in developing and supporting their independence, resilience, and happiness at school.

Start Smart ~ Ready to Learn 

We have a very professional team at Austins Ferry Primary School that work hard to provide your children with quality learning programs, but learning does not only happen at school.  Learning is a partnership between school and home; you can assist in helping provide your child’s best chance at learning.  Starting with the following will assist your child to start on the right foot ready to learn each day: 

• Arrival at school on time. Students can arrive at school from 8:30 am. Arriving prior to classes starting at 8:50 am allows students to connect with their friends and be more settled for the start of the school day. The first 10 minutes of the day in the classroom are probably the most important 10 minutes. Arriving on time ensures the children are happy, settled, and ready to learn. It can be stressful for a student to walk into the classroom late as well as unsettling for the rest of the class.Breakfast club is open at 8:00 which is also a great way to start the day. If students arrive before 8:30, they will need to be attending breakfast club as our duty of care does not start until 8:30 in classrooms.
• Help your child get enough sleep by going to bed at an age-appropriate time.
• Support your child eating a healthy breakfast.
• Healthy food and plenty of water to drink helps students through the day to learn.
• Be encouraging when talking to your child about school and demonstrate a positive attitude towards school. 
• Talk to your child about the positive parts of their day at school.
• Try to read and look at books with your child daily. The best way to improve your child’s literacy skills is to be positive about reading and to share books together. Talking about books at all ages encourages a positive approach to reading development, even adults.
• Remember: together we make a difference!

Partnerships between home and school are of the utmost importance. We are looking at ways to share what is happening in the classrooms with our families at home using an App called See-Saw. More information about this will be shared with families soon. Please ensure that you let your child’s teacher know if there are any circumstances that may affect their happiness or learning at school. This ensures that we can cater for their needs appropriately.

Thank you for joining us at our Meet and Greet. The feedback was extremely positive, and students loved sharing their work and classroom with family. It helps build the connection between home and school which is so rewarding.

Our School Association  

The AFP School Association undertake an important role in our school. The school association provides you with many opportunities to assist the school in fund raising activities, share your own thoughts and ideas in a non-threatening environment. It also gives you an opportunity to gain a better understanding and have input into the educational journey of the school as well opportunities to have a stronger input into Department of Education, Children and Young People policies and procedures. 

At our last meeting we shared our School Improvement Plan which supports our teaching and learning based on student data. It is like a road map that guides the direction of learning for our students. We discuss many issues that concern the community, and we talk about solutions and ways to enhance our school. At this stage we are still working hard to secure an operator for our school canteen and hope to share some news soon. It can be hard on a community when external factors outside our control impact upon us. Please know that we listen and are here if you would like to stop and have a chat about things.

Our next School Association AGM will be held in week 7. We are always after fresh faces with new ideas joining our committee each year to help the school prosper. If you are interested in becoming involved, we would love to have you join us. Nomination forms will be available from the office.

Duty of Care

I remind families that the arrival time for students in 8:30am each school day, classes begin at 8:50am and the school day finishes at 2:50pm. Our duty of care hours are between 8:30 and 2:55 each day. Students should not be arriving at school before 8:30 unless they are accessing Breakfast Club.

Students need to be collected at the conclusion of the school day at 2:50pm. If you are running late for any reason, please call the office, 6275 7222, so we can ensure your child is waiting in a safe location at school, generally the school office. It is important we know if you are delayed and can ensure we can inform your child and ensure they are safe.

Mandatory Reporting Training for Volunteers

Before you can volunteer to work with students at any school you must complete the Mandatory Training Video. This is a video you need to watch that outlines your responsibilities as a mandatory reporter when volunteering in schools. At the conclusion of the video, you receive a certificate that you need to show at the office along with your Working with Vulnerable People Card.

This has been an outcome of the Royal Commission and it is imperative that we know that these new requirements work towards ensuring that our children are safe.

The link to sign up to view the video can be found here: https://decyp-safeguarding.mygo1.com/signup/email

Parking Around the School and Kiss and Drop 

I would like to remind families that the “Kiss and Drop” zone outside the admin building is designed to ensure the safe drop off and pick up of students each day. To ensure that this is the case it must be used as it is intended. If there is not a space you will need to keep moving and do another lap of the block. This is a no parking zone during drop-off and pick-up times. Cars cannot park in this space and be left unattended. Please avoid picking students up while stopping at the crossing. There is generally quite a bit of parking in our car park that can be accessed for dropping off and picking up students.

We do have students in our school with disabilities who require access to disability parking.  The only disability parking we have is directly out the front of admin. Please obey the parking signs and do not park in this space during the posted times: 8:30am – 9:30am and 2:30pm – 3:00pm school days. This zone is provided for our disability students, please do not park in this space to ensure these students have access to arrive and depart the school safely.

Remember our students’ safety is the responsibility of all of us!  

Keep an eye on the school calendar

There are many activities coming up this term. Keep an on our school calendar so you do not miss them:

• Athletics Carnivals: Blue Tuesday 27, Red pod Wednesday 28, Kinder and Green pod Thursday 29
• School Photos: Monday 4 and Tuesday, 5 March
• School Camp: Wednesday 6 – Friday 8 March
• Naplan: Naplan commences for years 3 and 5 students, Tuesday 13 March

As always, the door is always open. We are here to support you in any way you can. Pop in for a tea / coffee and chat!

STUDENT SIGN-IN / SIGN-OUT VIA KIOSK

Please ensure that upon a late arrival (after 8:50am) or return to the school after (after an appointment) students are singing in at one of the electronic sign-in systems (KIOSK). There are two systems across the school site – one at the main administration office and the other in the Early Learning Centre foyer. It is important that in the unlikely event of an emergency, our attendance records are accurate. 

VALIDATION FORMS 

It is vital for the school office to have updated details for all students. In the event of a medical issue or emergency event this information is crucial in the care and response that we provide for your child/children. Please ensure to update information on the blue validation forms: emergency contact details, phone numbers, address details and any changes to your childs' medical needs eg. asthma, anaphylaxis.

BREAKFAST CLUB

Breakfast club is a free program located at kitchen/garden, near the ELC It is a great orogram for students who arrive early to school and wish to chat over breakfast. Opening hours are 8:00 to 8:30am. Doors will not open before 8am. 

QKR!

A reminder that the QKR! app is still having technical issues - please do not use this app until further communication. 

KISS & DROP

A friendly reminder that the school Kiss & Drop zone is not for car parking - please do not leave your vehicle unattended in this zone.

OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOUR CARE & HOLIDAY PROGRAMS

Playtime Sports offer both after school care and school holiday care and operates out of our school gym. After school care is open every week day from 2:45pm to 6:00pm. School holiday programs operating hours are 7:30am to 6:00pm. Please direct all enquiries to Karen Morgan at Playtime Sports on 0407 199 160. Pamphlets are avaliable at the school office.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Our School will be switching over to a new messaging platform for communicating with you.   This will replace our current system MGM OutReach+

The new platform, called EdSmart is an Australian platform which is designed to improve communication in school communities by allowing electronic messaging i.e. SMS and emails. For now, it will be used to manage absences messages i.e. you will receive a SMS or email alert if your child is absent from school requesting a response.  It will also allow us to send a communication message to all parent/guardians.

The platform will, over time, be rolled out across all Tasmanian Government Schools and new features will be added. 

You will receive a text message and/or an email with further details.  Note, the text message sender will be a shortened version of our school’s name - Please keep an eye out for it!

Further information is available on the Department’s website:

Communicating with your child's school - Department for Education, Children and Young People (decyp.tas.gov.au)

There are so many reasons to go to school. Make every school day count this term!

Remember: You can talk to us at school if you’re having trouble getting your child to school. We’re here to help.

When your child goes to school every day, it helps them to:

• Learn better

• Find interests

• Make friends

• Connect with teachers

• Be happier

• Have a brighter future

If you’re struggling to get your child to school, help is available. Please talk to us at school about your situation. We’ll support you, in whatever way we can.

To find out more, visit the 'Anything Can Happen' website: https://anything.tas.gov.au/schools