Grace Crichton-Gill

Grace shaped the way that we support children @ AFPS and led school wide professional development that will impact staff and students for many years to come. Grace moved into the support team with DoE in 2019 as she was recognised as a leader in this field which meant her expertise was shared across many schools in the South not just AFPS.

Outside of AFPS Grace was very connected with many of our current and former staff from social functions, mothers groups, sporting teams and more, Grace was a friend to all and her passion for others shone out! We farewell Grace today at her funeral and will celebrate her life and the wonderful family she leaves behind!

As a school we are organising a card that we will send to Grace's family at the end of the week, if there are any families who would like to write in the card please drop into our office before Friday and place a note in the card.

You can help your child by taking time to listen and by encouraging them to express their feelings.  All children are different and will express their feelings and react in different ways.  This behaviour is very normal and usually a short term reaction.  Over the course of the coming days, please keep an eye on your child and allow them to express their feelings.  If you are worried about your child’s wellbeing please contact school staff. Additional support is also available through the following services.

           

This is our final newsletter for 2020 and what a remarkable year it has been! As our final week draws to a close I would like to reflect on the fantastic events that our school has supported recently thanks to our wonderful staff; Values Shop, Grade 6-7 Parent Transition, P-2 Awards Assembly, Kinder Celebration, 3-6 Awards Assembly, Kinder-Prep Parent session, 2021 Kinder Orientation, LiL Christmas Party, and Whole School Picnic! It has been a busy couple of weeks.

We still look forward to our Leavers dinner this evening and Leavers Assembly tomorrow which will be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the journey of our Year 6 students during their time at AFPS.

2020 Staffing

As we reach the final week of Term 4 it is also time to farewell some of our staff who move on for various reasons. I would like to acknowledge and thank the following staff for their contribution to our AFPS community;

Annabelle Parker – is transferring to Sorell School to reduce her travel and spend more time with family, Annabelle has had a big impact shaping our early years and we thank her for her efforts.

Rebecca Cleary – Bec has been a wonderful servant of our community beginning her time as canteen owner at AFPS 10 years ago then moving into canteen supervisor role more recently. Bec has developed the canteen into gold standard and we thank her for her efforts supporting our students.

Zac Towns – is transferring to Brooks High in the North to be closer to family, he has developed into a fantastic teacher since beginning his career at AFPS and he will be missed by many students and families.

Sandra Ley – is moving to Queensland to be closer to family, she has been an integral part of our 3-4 team for the past couple of years and developed strong relationships with students and families, we wish her all the best with her interstate move.

Lindyl Wingate – is moving to Clarendon Vale Primary to take up an early years role, we wish Lindyl all the best with her next challenge and thank her for work at AFPS.

Amanda Young – worked with us in 2020 as part of the EAL team supporting students from overseas and as part of a re-structure will be supporting students in various schools around Hobart. We thank Amanda for her tremendous support of many families at AFPS.

2021 Staffing

I would like to welcome the below teachers to our school in 2021 and look forward to their contributions as part of their professional practice;

Riki Duncan – Kinder and Prep

Claire De Boer – Prep-1

Jaimie Shearing – 3-4

Daniel Coppleman – 5-6

Ryan Howell – 1-2

Ross Eldershaw – EAL

Beth Lincoln – Support

Lisa Kingston – Canteen Supervisor

Volunteer’s Afternoon Tea

Last Monday we had the pleasure of hosting a volunteer’s afternoon tea, it was wonderful to thank those people who support our students and take the time out of their day to improve our school. Jess our Kitchen Specialist prepared her famous sausage rolls and our cooking group made scones. Our volunteers were involved in many aspects of our school in 2020 – Soup Program (Rotary), Reading Buddies, School Association, School Carnivals and more. A huge thanks to these group of community members!

As 2020 concludes I would like to thank all of the staff at AFPS for their efforts in a very challenging year, COVID certainly forced us all to re think how we work and support each other in our community. AFPS families you have done a remarkable job supporting students both at home and school in a time of unprecedented change and we thank you for that!

I would like to wish all of our Community a safe and happy Christmas and hope that 2021 brings with it a new and fresh start for us all!

Kind regards

Tim Nicholas

Principal

2021 Uniform Collection & Sales

The school office will be open for uniform collection, payment and sales on:

• Thursday 28 January 2021 9:00am to 2:00pm & 4:00pm to 6:00pm
• Friday 29 January 2021 9:00am to 2.00pm

2021 School Levy Information

After consultation with the School Association the following levies have been set for 2021:

Kindergarten              $160.00

Prep – Year 6             $220.00 

This levy contributes to the cost of your child’s education program and includes learning materials, stationery, performances and excursions. 

Levy invoices will be mailed to parents/carers in early February 2021.  There is an expectation that levy payments will be finalised by the end of Term 1 – Wednesday 31 March 2021.

Payment of levies and charges must be made by:

• Cash or credit card at the school office during office opening hours
• Bpay, Bpoint
• Service Tasmania.
• Qkr!

Parents/carers are encouraged to discuss payment of levies and charges as early as possible if there is difficulty in affording any element of the levy or charge. Please make a time to speak with the School Business Manager, Rhonda Turner.   A levy instalment plan including Centrepay will be made available to parents/carers who are unable to make a full payment at the beginning of the new school year.

Instalment plans offer flexible, sensitively negotiated payment options to assist parents/carers to budget for this cost. Payments can be made weekly, fortnightly, monthly or at other agreed times after payment of an affordable deposit.  Please see the School Business Manager, Rhonda Turner, for assistance with this process.

STAS – Student Assistance Scheme

Parents who have a current concession card as listed below can apply for dependent students for assistance under the STAS: 

• Services Australia - Centrelink Health Care Card
• Services Australia - Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card
• Services Australia - Pensioner Concession Card or
• Department of Veteran Affairs - Pensioner Concession Card

For 2021 a new on-line form has been developed to assist with processing applications for new applicants and can be completed here:  https://stasonlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au/

We understand this online option may not be possible for all families - hard copy paper forms are available from the school office.

Please note that if you are already receiving student assistance you do not need to complete a form.

Once a validated form is completed the Deparmtent of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing, this process takes approximately 14 days.

Our HASS focus for this term is Sustainability. Students were asked to imagine what life would be like 80 years from now. They were asked to imagine what our planet would be like if we didn’t make changes and care for the earth. Students wrote poems remembering what our planet used to be like.

On Friday 4 December we went on an excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre at Woodbridge.

3-4 McArthur enjoyed their excursion to the Marine Environment Centre at Woodbridge. Students experienced a variety of activities which focused on sustainability in the marine environment, and came up close and personal with some marine animals.

Students have also been learning about procedures by following instructions to complete a step by step drawing of a koala, and creating their own procedures in our focus on the Roald Dahl novel 'The BFG'.

Many thanks to Chantelle Browning of O & E Sensory for creating these sensory supports for our students.

We are grateful for your hard work as well as the donation of the “I spy” bags.

They will be a great help in supporting the needs of the students at our school.

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