Although it was only a short week last week, it was very busy for staff and students. We welcomed our community back on site and it was lovely to see the smiling faces again enthusiastic to tackle Term 4. Students settled back into routine well and began learning, with a focus on feedback, to improve before the end of 2022.

Teachers spent Friday on a range of tasks which included a session on Curriculum Mapping, engaging with the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia Conference and beginning class placements for 2023.

Futsal and Basketball Tournaments

Big thank you to a number of staff and parent volunteers who have supported these teams. Mr Howell has taken on the boy’s futsal team and is doing a fantastic job coaching and guiding the team in their first roster. We have also entered 3 teams in the Southern Basketball tournament. Our Year 5/6 team participated on the weekend and took out the Division 3 title supported by Mahli’s Mum Nicole who coached and managed the boys. Our Year 3/4 boys will participate this weekend and we have entered 2 teams. Thank you to Josh and Nicholas Bailey who will coach the teams supported by Kyle Bluett.

School Review – 7–9 November

Every 4 years all public schools in Tasmania are involved in a whole school review. AFPS was last involved in a review in early 2018. Our next review is scheduled for week 4 of this Term beginning on Monday 7 November and running for 3 days. The review team will be made up of a panel chair and 2 current principals from other schools. During the review the panel members will interview staff, students, and community members. At the conclusion of the review the panel will make recommendations linked with 3 lines of inquiry that will be developed prior with AFPS staff. Shortly we will approach some parents and our School Association to meet with the panel during the review and provide insights into our school.

2023 Class Placements

We have begun the process of working through class placements for next year. We would like to thank parents and carers who sent in these requests before the deadline. A reminder that requests will only be actioned under the structures outlined in the letter and requests relating to friendships will not be guaranteed as this was not part of our request letter sent home. Students will receive their class placements alongside final end of year reports on Monday 19 December.

Hats – Term 4

As we head into Spring, our hats policy will be implemented in Term 4. I would like to highlight that at the beginning of Term 4 all students will be required to wear a school bucket hat or similar. No students will be permitted to wear non-school caps as these do not support our sun smart policy or provide sufficient protection to face and neck. Any students in Term 4 who bring non-school caps to school will be asked to remove them and told to sit in the courtyard under the shade during breaks. We ask families to support this policy and ensure all students are sun safe.

Welcome back to the last Term of the school year! We’re excited for what’s in store, including Grade 6 Leadership Camp, the Championship Swimming Carnival and the All Schools Triathlon. 

This final stretch of the school year can sometimes be challenging to get your kids to school. But being at school is the best place for our kids, and it’s important we make every school day count.

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.

Here are some tips to help:

• Create a routine.
• Give yourself enough time in the morning.
• Be on time, every day. Monday to Friday.
• Schedule appointments and trips outside of school hours.
• Get a good night’s sleep.
• Set some technology boundaries.

If your child is well enough to attend school, they should be at school. Every day, Monday to Friday.

Data tells us that the better a child’s attendance rate, the better off they’ll be. Their future will be filled with more opportunities…. which is what every parent and carer wants for their child.

School is where they learn and grow alongside their friends, and where they benefit the most. Going to school not only promotes academic success, but also helps build important social skills, relationships and confidence.

Again, please talk to us about your situation if you’re having trouble getting your child to school every day.

This week in 5-6 Perry we have made a great start to the Term. The class undertook a STEM challenge requiring each team to build a bridge that would span at least 25 cm and carry as much weight as possible. The materials available were sticky tape, masking tape, paddle pop sticks, skewers, A4 paper and blu-tac. As you can see, there were some very creative designs with the winning bridge able to hold over 11 kg in weight. The STEM challenges provided students the opportunity to develop their skills in creative and critical thinking, problem solving, working in teams and communication.

In 3/4 Riseley, we have begun the Term learning about money and why it is important to understand the value of money in the real world. We began with a brainstorm where I posed the question, ‘What do we know about money?’. Students were able to make connections from real world context. We have also been engaging in group tasks in which students have been able to look at particular amounts of money and create different variations of the same value.

In other news, last Term, we visited the Sustainability Centre, where we had the opportunity to engage in a range of hands-on activities. Students could capture some water, and then were able to use magnifying glasses to identify different insects. Students also had a great time creating their own habitat for bush animals after the event of a bush fire or flood. We saw a lot of creativity come through their ability to work together. We are very excited for the Term ahead. 

Marine Discovery Centre

In the last week of Term 3, Years 1 and 2 went on an excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre in Woodbridge.

After we had fruit break we were given a sheet to find all the sea animals in the tanks.

While Mr Howell’s class was in the class room, we got to see the touch tank. The touch tank was where we got to touch animals and pick them up. There were hermit crabs, 11 armed starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sea anemones, coral and rocks. The touch tank was really cool.

Before we swapped with Mr Howell’s class and went into the classroom we patted the Draughtboard Sharks.

After that we went into the classroom and did some activities in there. We made badges, we drew and patted a baby Draughtboard shark, we made seahorse lifecycles and we drew and decorated a decorator crab.

Before we left, we got to feed the sharks in the big tank, the tank was basically a swimming pool. We fed them squid on sticks.

It was one of the best excursions ever, we liked all of it!!

From,

2 Florence

P.S. We wrote a letter to Andrew, the guy who showed around, to say thank you.

We have some second-hand Rugby tops (size large) and Polo tops (sizes 4, 6, 8, 12, 14) available for purchase at the office. $10 each. 

The Music Bus runs weekly lessons at our school. 

• 30 minute duration - once per week
• Will be held in the hi-tech music classroom on wheels on our school site.
• Cost $20 per week ($22 drums) payable by the term on commencement

Classes offered are:

• Keyboard (Years K-6)
• Ukulele (Years K-6)
• Drums (Years 1-6)
• Guitar (Years 2-6)

If you wish to take part please complete the expression of interest form asap. The link is: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/ee4627a5204c46158e1ab17e7c8069c6