28 February 2025
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Welcome to the first Newsletter of Term 1. We've had a great start, and our learners have already made significant gains and have contributed to creating happy, safe learning environments with their peers. You'll receive a 'tick a box' Progress Report at the end of week 6 for Prep-Grade 6 students, letting you know how they've settled in.
We have a couple of community events fast approaching- on Tuesday 4th March (next week) we have or annual Welcome and Meet the Staff Egg & Bacon Roll Breakfast complete with coffee van. This will start at 8:30 am. Please note that the buildings will be closed until 9:00am on this morning.
On Thursday 20th March our Grade 3-6 Athletics carnival is on, we welcome all spectators and really appreciate any offers to volunteer at this event too.
Next week is our Grade 6 camp- I'd like to acknowledge the incredible amount of work that our staff put in to making this memorable occasion possible- it's not just the Grade 6 Team involved here (who do a mammoth amount of preparation as well as leaving their families and personal lives for 2 nights) , it's also Mr Newtown who attends, the amazing Admin Team who organise so much of this behind the scenes, and the teachers who change their timetables to provide quality learning for the Grade 5s from the Grade 5/6 classes while their teachers are away. We all know it's worth it to give our senior students such a great team bonding experience.
A reminder about phones and other devices with connectivity: It is legislated that students MUST have their mobile phones switched off and stored during school hours.
Our senior classrooms have storage on the back of teacher's office doors and students must put their phones in there on arrival at school. Younger children need to check with their teachers, if they have a phone, to organise safe storage. There is no need for them to be contactable via their personal device throughout the school day- if you need to communicate anything to your child call our friendly Admin Team, and if your child wants to contact you, we let them use a school landline to do this. Watches with connectivity need to be tuned to airplane mode at school.
Wheels at school: Please help us reinforce the following safety strategies for scooters and bikes at school.
Scooters: We eat before we ride. We ride scooters on the first court. We wear helmets. We stay away from other riders. We wear knee and elbow pads if we are jumping on our scooters. We only ride our own scooter. We are responsible and respectful riders.
Bikes: We eat before we ride. We ride bikes on the bike track. We push our bikes from the bike racks on bridgeside to the edge of the courts, and from the edge of the courts back to the racks. We push our bikes from the bayside bike racks to the start of the courts, and from the edge of the courts back to the bike racks. We wear helmets. We only ride our own bike. We are responsible and respectful riders.
Regards
Cathy Young
Classroom Teaching Staff 2025
Teachers Teacher Assistants
Kinder Yellow: Mrs Ashley Quinn Anita brown
Kinder Blue: Ms Elise Zucco Jo Baldwin
Prep Yellow: Mrs Jo Bygraves Jo Hart
Prep Blue: Ms Mel Turner Sharon Rowbottom
1-2 Blue: Mrs Monique Marsden Joe Wrigley
1-2 Red: Mrs Amanda Coombes Amanda Guc
1-2 Yellow: Ms Emily Hall/Ms Lauren McCarthy Kate Fox
3-4 Blue: Miss Angela de la Barra
3-4 Green: Mrs Jacquie Moore/Miss Brydie Pearce Administration Team
3-4 Yellow: Miss Shona King School Business Manager: Kirby Davis
3-4 Red: Mr Patrick Newton Administration Clerk: Jillian Watkins
5 Red: Mrs Monique Coombe/Miss Amy Jones
5-6 Blue: Mrs Alana Giffard Grounds and Facilities
5-6 Yellow: Mrs Vicki Dobson Brett Hutton
Rose KC
Launching in to Learning: Mrs Selina Tummon Suraj Dangol
PE and Respectful Relationships: Mr Tim Claridge
Music: Mrs Anne Parsell Support Team
Japanese: Mrs Anita Wedd School Psychologist: Shona Fullarton (Mon/Wed)
English as an Additional Language: Mr Jesse Jia Social Worker: Anerleigh Simms (Monday)
Accessibility Support: Mrs Margaret Ling Speech Pathologist: Ellie Fisher (alternate Tuesdays School Nurse: Bec Lamberton ( Tuesdays)
IT Support
Leadership Team Marlon Anjerwierden
School Business Manager: Kirby Davis Adam Cunningham
Principal: Cathy Young
Assistant Principal and Grades 3-6 Team Leader: Amy Jones
Assistant Principal and K-Grade 2 Team Leader: Bronwyn Douglas
Numeracy Lead Teacher: Helen Watson
Instructional Specialist Literacy: Lyn Lewer
Intervention and 0-4 programs: Selina Tummon
SRT Class Reps Terms 1 and 2
Congratulations to our class representatives for our SRT for terms 1 and 2. We are looking forward to working with this wonderful group of student leaders.
Athletics House Captains
Congratulations to our recently elected Athletics House Captains. We are looking forward to working with them at our upcoming Athletics Carnival on Thursday 20th March.
3R
Congratulations to those awarded the 3R’s certificates.
1-2 Blue News
1-2 Blue have made a great start to the year! We have used the first few weeks to explore our new classroom space and get to know our new friends. We have quickly established classroom routines and are using teamwork already!
Here are some of the things we have done in 1-2 Blue:
- Using the sunflowers in our garden, we painted beautiful sunflower pictures.
- Worked as a class to explore the 3Rs and what they look like
- We represented the number 53 in many different ways, even using notes and coins!
- We have started to explore the concept of harmony in our class as we work on being harmonious with each other.
- Done some writing about our first day at school and how we felt
- Learnt about numbers before and after, as well as using our calendar routine to learn about place value and numbers
- Retold a lovely story about being brave, working with a partner to draw and write about the introduction, problem, resolution and conclusion.
Some thoughts we have about coming to school:
“I love coming to school because I can make new friends.” Emilie
“I love coming to school to learn about maths.” Finn
I love coming to school to play on the monkey bars.” Dylan
“I love coming to school because I love reading.” Savannah
“I love coming to school because it’s a good experience for me to learn.” Elsie B
It has been a very busy and fun start to the year!
5-6 Blue News
Grade 5/6 Blue has had an amazing start to the year! Over the first few weeks, we've focused on getting to know each other while creating some fantastic art and writing projects. If you stroll through the main hallway, you might spot our ‘One Word’ writing. Inspired by the book One Word for Kids, each student selected a word to guide their year—words like confidence, leadership, hope, and bravery. We’ve also written biography poems and created fun caricature art of ourselves. Additionally, we've put our creativity to the test with "Fact or Fiction" writing challenges and crafted vibrant name pop art.
School Health Nurse – Bec Lamberton
Volunteers
Parent Help/Volunteers
We very much encourage and appreciate parent help and volunteers in our school. The Department of Education Children and Young People require that all volunteers must hold a current Registration for Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) and now also require you to complete Your Obligations – Safeguarding Training 15-minute video. When signing into the office please have on hand your working with Vulnerable People card and copy of your safeguarding certificate.
Japanese News
Recess Japanese (formally lunchtime Japanese)
Is your child interested in learning about Japanese language and culture?
Anita Wedd, MBPS's Japanese teacher runs small classes at recess on Fridays for children in grades 1 to 4.
Classes will begin again on Friday 21st February.
For more information please contact Anita at anita.wedd@decyp.tas.edu.au
Anita Wedd
LOTE - Japanese Teacher
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop has relocated and will now operate out of the Hall.
Thursday’s Weekly 8:30am – 9:00am
Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) 2025
Parents/guardians who are applying for STAS for the first time are encouraged to apply online at www.onlinesubmission.education.tas.gov.au, alternatively applicants can search STAS in Google and be taken directly to the online application site. Applications can be completed on any electronic device including mobile phones. Parents/guardians must hold a current Centrelink concession card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs concession card to be eligible. STAS 2025 assessment letters have been posted to all families. If a parent/guardian wishes to add a newly enrolling or additional student to their existing STAS file they need to email their full name, the student’s full name, date of birth and school attending in 2025 to stas@decyp.tas.gov.au and the file will be updated.
What’s On Term 1 2025
Further information on Calendar under event |
Monday 3rd March | Kinder Blue & Yellow – Nature Play |
Tuesday 4th March | Welcome Back Egg and Bacon Breakfast 8:30am – 9:00am |
Wednesday 5th – Friday 7th March | Grade 6 Camp – Spring Beach Camp - Orford |
Monday 10th March | Public Holiday – Eight Hours Day |
Monday 17th March | Kinder Blue & Yellow – Nature Play |
Thursday 20th March | School Athletics Carnival – Grade 3-6 |
Monday 24th March | Kinder Blue & Yellow – Nature Play Prep Blue & Prep Yellow Excursion – Botanical Gardens |
Tuesday 25th March | Assembly – 1:55pm – 1-2B, 3-4B & 5-6B Sharing |
Monday 31st March | Kinder Blue & Yellow – Nature Play |
Tuesday 1st April | Div B SPSSA Athletics Carnival |
Friday 11th April | Champions Athletics Carnival |
Last Day of Term 1 |
Monday 28th April | Term 2 Starts |
Monday 28th April – Friday 9th May | Swimming and Water Safety Program (Clarence Pool) – Grades 3-5 |
Friday 9th May | SPSSA State Athletics Carnival |
Monday 19th May | School Photo Day |
Tuesday 20th May | School Cross Country Carnival |
Wednesday 21st May | 5-6 Blue & 5-6 Yellow Excursion – Parliament House |