Term 4 Week 3 - 1 November 2023

Perth Primary School Calendar

From the Principal ..........

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Welcome to Term 4, it has been lovely to be greeted by sunshine and enthusiastic learners this term! When working with classes it has been wonderful to see students engaged in their learning from the first day of term. Thanks to our hard-working IT guru, Mrs Barnes, we have been able to roll out our 1:1 devices for our Grade 3-6 students. We envisage the devices as being a powerful tool for learning, helping our students explore, create, and discover in new and exciting ways. An aim of our staff is to experiment with ways to promote collaboration, with students working together on projects and learning from one another. Having regular access to devices will enhance digital literacy and prepare our students for the technology-driven world they will enter as they grow. Our new devices will not replace our school books, nor will we be throwing out our pens and pencils, instead our devices will be used to complement our current classroom programs.

Student Free Day – Friday 3 November 2023 (this Friday)

A reminder that this Friday is a Student Free Day. Our teachers will spend the day looking at the recent PAT Reading and Maths assessments students completed along with beginning our School Improvement Planning for 2024.

Country Gold

At the end of Term 3, we had a number of Grade 5/6 students represent Perth as part of the Northern Midlands teams in Boys Football, Netball, Soccer and Hockey. It was a great experience for all the students, meeting new people as well as competing against some of the best players in the North of the State. Congratulations to Isabelle who was a part of the Division 2 Hockey Team that won their competition. Early in Term 4, there was a hockey gala day for interested Grade 4/5 students held at the St Leonards Hockey Centre. This is designed to give students the opportunity to experience hockey as a potential sport in the future. It was a great day and the students thoroughly enjoyed it.

Last week, trials for Country Gold Cricket were held, congratulations to Seth D, Chris W, and Albie Mc on their selection and we wish them the best of luck in the carnival to be held on the 20 and 21 November.

Updating Student Information

Just a reminder that it is important that student details are kept updated via the school office. If you have changed phone or mobile numbers or moved house recently it would be appreciated if you could let the school office know.

Events

Schools Basketball Tournament

Last weekend we had two teams enter the 5-6 basketball tournament held at Elphin and St Patricks College. Both teams did an amazing job and we are very appreciative of the coaches, Sam Percival and Shannon Styles for giving up their time to coach. The 3-4 tournament will be held in two weeks, we have three teams entered.

Infant Fun Day

On Friday 10 November, we will be hosting the Northern Midlands Infant Fun Day. This is an annual event for students in Prep-Grade 2 across the Northern Midlands Schools. They will participate in a variety of tabloid style activities throughout the day. There will be a sausage sizzle and information about ordering will be sent home shortly. Parents are welcome to attend but are asked to remain in the designated spectator areas as there will be over 360 students participating. Our School Association will be running the BBQ and offering coffees and sweet treats for purchase by parents. The activities begin at 10am and conclude by 1pm.

Grade 5-6 camp

Our Grade 5-6 students will be heading off on their bi-annual camp to Hobart from 15-17 November. There is a huge amount of organisation that goes into ensuring the camp is a successful and positive experience for all our students. They will have the opportunity to visit Parliament House and Port Arthur, as well as spending time as a cohort doing team-based activities. A huge thank you to our School Association fundraising team who have contributed over $4000 to our camp which has meant that we are able to keep costs to a minimum for parents. Please contact the office if your child is taking medication ie. asthma puffer, pain or travel sickness medication to camp.

Dance Fever

We have a very enthusiastic group of Grade 5-6 students who are working hard to prepare for Launceston College’s Dance Fever production. This is the second year we are participating in the event which was a huge success last year. All our students from Grade 3-6 will have the opportunity to watch the performance on Thursday 23 November.

Schools Triathlon

On Friday 24 November the annual School’s Triathlon will take place in Devonport. This year we have 40 students participating. Our lead up will be a little different this year as we do not have Mr Muir to put our students through their paces during our play time practices! I will meet with students closer to the date to ensure they have all the information that they need to ensure they have a successful day.

Grade 3-6 Swimming Carnival

Our school carnival will be held on 20 November at the Hagley Pool. As in previous years there is a variety of events to suit all swimming abilities. After the success of our Swimming and Water Safety Program we are looking forward to seeing our students show their growth and confidence at the carnival. Parents are invited to attend but due to limited space we do ask that only one family member per student attend.

End of Year Activities and Dates

The end of the year is always a busy time in schools, make sure that you pop the following dates in your calendar!

• Monday 11 December 9am – 2024 Prep Parent Meeting in the school hall
• Tuesday 12 December 1:30pm - Presentation Assembly in school hall
• Thursday 14 December – Grade 6 Leaver’s Dinner at UTAS Stadium
• Friday 15 December – End of Year Report and class placement information sent home (Kinder - Tuesday 12 December)
• Monday 18 December 9:30am – Prep Nativity Play in school hall
• Wednesday 20 December – Prep to Grade 6 Activities Day at school (student event)
• Thursday 21 December 11:30am - Grade 6 Final Assembly

Our Growing School

As you may be aware, our school population has been growing steadily over the last couple of years. This year the Department has enforced the ‘over capacity’ procedure which means we are unable to accept any out of area enrolments. While it is great that our school is growing, it is also causing some challenges to ensure that we can provide adequate learning spaces for our school. We have started the process of applying for major works which will see some new buildings for our school over the next few years. Unfortunately, like anything this takes time. As a result, we have had to make some decisions around transforming some of our current learning spaces to allow for our increasing numbers. Towards the end of this year, we will be relocating our library to the current 1-2FW classroom and transforming the current library into a classroom learning space for 2024. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated library space but due to our numbers for the last few years this space has been used more as a classroom for our specialist lessons than a library. We anticipate that the change of spaces will be completed over the course of a week. Due to the changes being capacity related, the Department is supporting the costs associated with this move.

Staff Movements

We are incredibly fortunate at Perth to have an amazing staff that always has our students best interests at the heart. In 2023, we had some staff members who due to the length of service at our school have been required to transfer in 2024. We are very sad to have to farewell Miss Dick and Mrs Shephard at the end of the year but are also very thankful for the time that we have had them at our school. We will be doing formal farewells at the end of the year that both students and staff will be involved in, to celebrate their time at our school and to wish them the best of luck at their new schools.

As a result of these transfers, we will be welcoming Ms Rebecca Hibberd from St Mary’s, Mrs Megan Poke from Norwood and Mrs Jemma Duncan from Longford. We are fortunate that our new staff will be able to meet their new classes before the end of the year when we have our ‘meet the teacher’ time.

At the beginning of this term, we also farewelled Ms Anna Delphine who has been a teacher assistant at our school for the last 10 years. Ms Delphine was very well known in our school community being an integral part of our LiL team for the past few years. Ms Delphine has won a position as an Educational Support Specialist at Port Dalrymple School which is something she has been studying towards for the last couple of years. We wish her the best of luck and know she will be fabulous in her new role with ‘big’ kids!

Tell Someone Campaign!
All children in Tasmania have a right to be known, safe, well and learning. We are highly committed to the safety of all students at our school.

Earlier this month, DECYP launched the Tell Someone initiative, to raise awareness in the community about child sexual abuse and grooming.

The Tell Someone website gives children and young people clear advice on what to do in situations where they feel worried, unsafe or unsure. It also gives adults advice and support on how to respond if they suspect or know a child is being groomed or sexually abused or is at risk of harm.

Please visit the website, read the information, and try to find a suitable time to talk with your children about this issue and the resources available. It is important that you both understand the possible signs of sexual abuse or grooming behaviour, and how to stay safe online and offline.

If reading this information has caused you distress, please visit DECYP’s website for a list of support services.

Please contact the school if you have any questions about this information.

School Information

Maths Relay
On Sunday, 24 September Perth Primary were represented by two quick thinking and enthusiastic teams in the Northern heat of the Mathematical Association of Tasmania Annual Relay Competitions.  It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to apply their maths thinking in a new and challenging way as they competed against 28 teams from schools across the North.  We would like to acknowledge and congratulate Dulcie H, Adeline L, Evie B, Erin H, Arthur B, Seth D, Koby A and Liam D for the high level of grit, determination, and resilience displayed throughout the competition.  We look forward to participating in this event again in 2024.

Scholastic Book Club
Book Club issue 7 closes this Thursday 2 November. If you are wanting to place an order, please do so before 12.00 midday on that day. Thank You!

Sports Colours Day
Thank you everyone for donating to our Sports Colours Day.  We were able to raise over $270.00 for MND Australia.

Perth Primary School Association

Value Certificates

Launching into Learning

Kindergarten Enrolment 2024

Term Dates 2023

Canteen News

Happy Birthday

Hudson I, Phoebe R, Toby R, Rylah P, Carson A, Evie Mc, Ebony D, Zander W, Phoenix L, Wyatt S, Sophie L, Caiden M, Oliver B, Ellah-June D, Stella S, William L, Ava C, Harrison JB, Nixon W, Aurora P, Isla VDB, Adeline C, Cooper N, Lachlan P, Matthew H, Hunter C, Liam R, Toby C, Dustin C, Ella W, Georgia M, Aiden K, Makayla C, Jaxson M, Isabella P, Brinley R, Seb B, Danika S, Addison B, Adi B, Ellah B, Adele B, Mrs Rosevear, Mrs Fleming, Mr Rossiter, Mrs Pavia, Mrs Eldershaw, Mr Walter, Mrs Forrester, Miss Wrankmore and Mrs Biffin.

Community News

The Launceston Horticultural Society will be holding one hour potting workshops for children at our Late Spring Flower Show on Saturday 11^th November at 3:00pm, and Sunday 12^th November at 11:00am and 2:00pm, at the Evandale Memorial Hall, 8 High Street, Evandale. This event is free.

The aim of these workshops is to get young children more engaged in gardening by providing a hands-on experience for them, and foster a love of flowers and plants. It is hoped that this activity will also engage families with young children.

The sessions will be supervised by Annette Hollingsworth, a former school principal, however parents are required to be in attendance. All materials will be provided.

Contact person is Erica Maxwell lhspresident1838@gmail.com 0411 410 647

Perth Primary School Support Staff