As we move into the second half of Term 1 there is much to celebrate already! Many learning programs have started to inspire and encourage students to be risk takers. The Children’s University has over 30 students looking to join, and we have elected our students into leadership roles. While COVID still sits in the background our students have shown enormous courage to continue their learning journeys and strive to achieve their goals!

COVID-19 Update

Our community continue to be very supportive in the COVID space ensuring we all follow recommendations from Public Health. We have had an increase in positive cases amongst students since our last newsletter. We now have a group outbreak in one class which means 5 students have tested positive within a 7 day period. Several students are isolating at home due to being close contacts but are engaging in the Virtual Learning Centre until they return to the classroom. We encourage families to continue to collect RAT tests when required and test children if they are showing symptoms. RAT tests are available from the office at any time so please just drop in and collect.

Values Hook Term 1 – No 2.

We have collectively had a calm and focused start to the year with clear and high expectations being set by teachers across our school. Underlying this is our responsibility to live our school values in how we conduct ourselves, make decisions and run our day-to-day business across the school. This holds true for all members of our school community – staff, students, parents, and carers.

Our second hook of the year is linked with Respect and allows students to focus on instruction and the tuning in phase of learning: Listen Up

Minister For Education Visit

We had the pleasure of welcoming the Education Minister - Roger Jaensch MP and Tim Bullard - Secretary DoE to our school on Friday 25 February. Our SVT students Briley and Toby did a fantastic job speaking about our school and taking our guests on a tour. The Minister was particularly impressed with our learning environment and students’ passion for AFPS.

Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival

Last week Mr Bailey and his team managed to coordinate the running of Athletics Carnivals despite the inclement weather! We split the Year 3-6 carnival into 2 groups using classes in each POD. Day 1 saw us run the 3/4 carnival and day 2 the 5/6 carnival. Students certainly put their best foot forward and demonstrated our value of Aspiration! Congratulations to Emerald who took out their first Athletics Carnival in many years on 648 points, second was Ruby on 537 points and third was Sapphire on 530 points.

Kitchen/Garden Upgrades

A big thank you to MONA24CG for their support last week erecting our new netting system over an upgrade to our garden beds! We have had some recent vandalism and a visit by the cows next door so the netting will be a huge support to continue the growth and production of our school garden.

This year School Photos will be taken on Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th of March. Photos will be available for order online only.

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.

STUDENT PICK-UP

If you need to collect students throughout the school day for appointments please arrive in time to allow us to locate your child.  We do not call to the classroom until you have arrived.   This limits interruptions to the class and avoids your child missing out on valuable learning time.  Thank you for you co-operation.

UPDATING STUDENT DETAILS

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 with the office staff as required: emergency contact details, phone numbers, address details and any changes to your childs' medical needs eg. asthma, anaphylaxis.

ABSENCES / ATTENDANCE

If your child is absent please notify the school office before 9:30am:

• Leave a message on the answering machine 6275 7272
• Speak to the office staff face to face
• Call the office staff 6275 7222
• Email:  austins.ferry.primary@education.tas.gov.au
• Via the web form:  www.austins.ferry.primary@education.tas.gov.au
• Submit details through the Schoolzine SZapp

We care about your child's safety and will text you if your child is absent unexplained.

CAR PARK SPEED LIMITS

Speed limits throughout the school are restricted to 10km.  Please note that regardless of what time of day, if the gates are open there is someone here! Everyone's safety is important. 

END OF DAY MESSAGES

Please notify the school office as early as possible and prior to 2:25pm if you need to get a message to your child/ren for the end of the day. Class notice bags are collected at 2:30pm and passing on messages after 2:30pm becomes quite difficult.  We cannot guarantee messages will be received effectively after this time.

CANTEEN & QKR!

Please remember to place your canteen lunch orders through Qkr! prior to the 8:30am deadline.

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.

All enquiries to Karen Morgan at Playtime Sports on 0407 199 160.

What a start to the 2022 kindergarten year, we welcome all the children and their families to our school.

The children have begun the year settling in, getting to know each other, their educators and the school community.

Together we have been playing, exploring, learning and making friends. We are looking forward to a year of growth, new experiences and a world where we play, notice and wonder.

The year has started brilliantly for 3-4 Pearce. We have set up classroom expectations and routines and the students have been making lots of new friends. Some of our highlights have included learning more about narrative writing and describing characters in our stories. In Mathematics, we have been focussing on place value and students made place value castles. We have also started an inquiry into eucalyptus trees, in which we will discover in what ways the events of past have impacted the present. We examined trees in the playground to identify if they were eucalyptus trees or not.

In 5/6 Lewinski we have been establishing routines and expectations to set us up for a great year. We are fortunate enough to have Tim Parrott in our class this year. Tim is in his final year of Uni and has an internship with us for 2022.

We have started our spelling inquiry where we explore a word, its history, its base and other features. Students have loved finding out the history of words and how each word has been adapted to English. 

We have also begun our unit on Persuasive Writing. We have been working on seeing both sides of an argument and brainstorming ideas around both sides prior to creating our persuasive text.

Dear Parent/Carer

2022 School Levy Information

Levies are one of the many ways that families contribute to our school community.  Levies support student learning by contributing towards the cost of essential items and services.  After consultation with the School Association the following levies have been set for 2022:

Kindergarten             $170.00

Prep – Year 6             $235.00

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

Levy invoices have been issued to parents/carers for 2022.  There is an expectation that levy payments will be finalised by the end of Term 1 – Wednesday 13 April 2022.

Payment of levies and charges can be made by:

• Cash, cheque or credit card at the school office during office opening hours
• Bpay using the Biller Code and Reference on your invoice
• Service Tasmania by cash, cheque or credit card
• By mail - forward your cheque, money order or credit card details to the school, with the payment slip from your invoice attached
• Qkr!
• Using Centrepay – a service provided by Centrelink

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, by phone 6275 7222 or email: rhonda.turner@education.tas.gov.au.   A levy instalment plan including Centrepay is available to parents/carers who are unable to make a full payment prior to the end of Term 1.

If your family has not paid their levies by the due date and has not organised to pay in instalments, the school will be in contact to remind you that payment is due and will check to see if your family requires support. If your levies remain unpaid after the school has sent two follow-up letters the matter will be forwarded to Finance and Budget Services within the Department of Education to be followed up.  Under no circumstances will the status of payment of levies or charges be discussed directly with students.

You are a valued member of our school community and we welcome your feedback on levies and charges at our school.

You can contact School Business Manager, Rhonda Turner if you have any questions or would like to talk about levies at our school. Personal information relating to levies will always be treated with total confidentiality.

The levies and charges we receive from families supports our school to deliver learning opportunities for all students. 

Thanks to the families that have made part payment or payment in full.  We appreciate your contribution.

It's not too late to apply for STAS for 2022 if you believe that you meet the eligibility criteria!

STAS application forms for families who have not applied for, or been in receipt of STAS in 2021 including new enrolments who believe they meet the eligibility criteria are now available from the school office or families can apply on-line: https://stasonlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au/

The eligibility criteria means that if a parent/carer holds a current concession card as listed below they are eligible to apply for STAS:

• Centrelink Health Care Card
• Pensioner Concession Card or
• Department of Veteran Affairs Concession Card

Please note: parents/carers cannot apply again online if they received STAS in 2021.  If a parent/carer wishes to add a newly enrolling student to their STAS file (ie: a Kindergarten student or sibling) they simply need to email their name and the student’s full name, date of birth, grade and school they will be attending in 2022 to: stas@education.tas.gov.au

Completed hard copy application forms are available from the school office.  Please return the completed form to the school office or send directly to the Department of Education by post, fax (6173 0315) or scanned and emailed to stas@education.tas.gov.au.  Please ensure that forms are signed and dated before submitting. 

It would be greatly appreciated if you would complete new applications as soon as possible.

One of our main focuses at Austins Ferry Primary School is to keep your children safe.

In order to do this, all medical plans e.g. Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes, are required to be updated annually by your child’s medical officer, even if the management is unchanged. 

This ensures that we have current information on hand to keep your child safe if a medical incident were to occur.  It is also a requirement of the Department of Education.  

Please see the office staff or myself if you have any questions.

Emma Atkinson

School Health Nurse

Public Health has reviewed their advice about hay fever in the current COVID-19 environment.

Hay fever symptoms are similar to COVID-19 symptoms, so it’s important families know what they need to do if their child experiences hay fever symptoms.

If your child has hay fever symptoms, please keep them at home and test for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test (RAT).

If your child tests negative on a RAT and symptoms continue, Public Health advises that you must do a second RAT 24 hours later, or seek a PCR test. 

If the second RAT or PCR remains negative, this is sufficient evidence for your child to return to school if they feel well.

If symptoms change or increase in severity, please see your treating medical practitioner for review.

Please know that Public Health advice can change at short notice, and we appreciate your patience as we respond to these changes as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, please contact the school office. For more information, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website or contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au or on 1800 816 057.

Every Friday morning Year 4, 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to participate in the Austins Ferry Run Club. We had our 1^st run of 2022 with great numbers, weather, energy and enthusiasm. The aim of this group is to promote fitness, social skills and inclusiveness. If your child is interested in participating in Run Club please contact Mr Lewinski, Mr Nichols or Mr Perry.

On Friday 18 March 2022 Austins Ferry Primary School will recognise the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA).

The theme for 2022 is Kindness Culture.

By building Kindness Culture together, we are promoting inclusion, respect and community belonging in our school.

The new animation series for 2022, Be kind online, encourages students to block content, report it and support each other if they see or experience cyberbullying.

You can watch the animation here: Be kind online - Cyberbullying

Please return Book Club orders no later than Wednesday 23 March 2022

This program encourages and celebrates extra-curricular learning outside of school.

Additional learning opportunities might include:

- participation in a sport
- Scouts, chess club
- bushwalking, appreciating nature
- visiting the museum or library
- learning how to cook, sew, ride a bike, tie shoelaces

Learning is validated by a school coordinator and the student's Passport to Learning is stamped to keep a record of the hours of learning. Once students reach a minimum or 30 hours of additional learning, they qualify to graduate in a ceremony at the University of Tasmania.

Many students from year 3-6 have expressed interest in joining the program. To join students will need to return a permission form to school. If your child has a form at home, please return to the office or their class teacher.

If they would like to find out more, please see Ms Jackson or Mrs Sayers.