Dear Families,

We are thrilled to share that we finally had a break in the wet weather and successfully held our Annual Cross Country last Wednesday. Despite the track being wet and slippery, our students participated with enthusiasm and determination. It was great to see such a great turnout from our community, motivating and cheering our students on from the sidelines. Congratulations to the students in Years 3-6 who have been selected for the Interschool Cross Country team competing next week.

A reminder to families: if you arrive at school after 9:05 am, please go to the office and sign your child in. Students will then receive a sign in slip, which they take to their class teacher. It is crucial that our daily attendance records are accurate, so we always know who is on our site and maintain our duty of care requirements.

Regarding daily absences, it is important for families to inform the school of the reason for their child’s absence. We understand that there are many challenges with attendance, and we are here to support you in any way we can. If you are experiencing difficulties getting your child to school, we encourage you to have a conversation with your child's class teacher to discuss the situation and strategies to support your child.

As per DECYP’s attendance policy, students with more than five unexplained absences will receive a ‘5 Day Attendance’ letter. These letters will be sent out this week. If you have any questions or concerns about the letter, please contact me directly at michael.park@decyp.tas.gov.au. To update unexplained absences, please contact the school office.

Next Monday and Tuesday, we will be undergoing our External School Review. This review occurs every four years as part of the school improvement process. Staff, students, and families will all be involved to provide a range of information to the review team. Our office will be reaching out to families this week to schedule phone interviews. We appreciate your participation, as your feedback is crucial.

Warm regards, 

Michael

A reminder to families that Friday the 6th of June is Statewide Moderation Day and therefore a pupil free day. Monday the 9th is also the Kings Birthday so it is an extra long weekend for families. 

Please contact Lady Gowrie on 6230 6800 if you need care for Friday the 6th. Thank you

Parent/Teacher interviews for years K - 6 will be held over two weeks in June. Dates are the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th and 27th of June. You can book your interviews online. Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Enter school event code: 4fad5  then follow these three simple steps.

1 = Enter your details

2 = Choose teachers

3 = Choose times

When you click finish, your interview timetable will be emailed to you automatically - check your junk mail folder if you do not recieve your email immediately. You can return to www.schoolinterviews.com.au at any time, and change your interviews - until bookings close.

The School Interview site will open tomorrow.

Last week as part of the National Simultaneous Storytime’s focus on Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker and our class focus on Information Texts, we did some research and artwork about bowerbirds.

We learnt lots of things about these unique birds.

Here are some of our factual sentences:-

The bowerbird is often blue, green and brown in colour.

The bowerbird is a medium sized bird.

Bowerbirds are artistic birds and great collectors.

Bowerbirds eat a range of different things in their diet including fruit, insects and sometimes nectar.

Bowerbirds build bowers to attract mates.

Male Bowerbirds will also perform an elaborate dance to attract a female.

Bowerbirds love decorating with blue things and shiny things.

Once a bowerbird has a mate, they will build a nest together.  

The female bowerbird incubates the egg and the Mum and Dad look after the chicks.

These birds can be found in forests and the East Coast of Australia.

We also completed some artworks.  We all did a guided drawing session of a bowerbird with the author and illustrator, Aura Parker and some of us did a button collecting activity. The buttons are all blue as many bowerbirds are blue in colour and they love collecting blue things to decorate their bowers.

National Simultaneous Storytime – Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker

On Wednesday we participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime as a whole school.  A group of 5/6 students presented the story to the students as a play.  The students worked hard in the weeks leading up to the storytime, preparing props, rehearsing the reading and acting out of the story. We presented the story again on Friday for our Launch into Learning children. A big thank you to all the students involved for their commitment to this presentation.

Natalia Coleman from 2/3 James has been growing her hair for the past four years with the intention of cutting it and donating it to make a wig for children suffering with cancer. On the 15th of June, Natalia will be cutting and donating her beautiful hair to Wigs for Kids and raising money to help relieve the financial burden from families that have a child being treated for cancer. Click on the link below to find out more. https://fundraise.kidswithcancer.org.au/s/6295/6367/s

Tuesday June 24th is school photo day. We ask that all students wear their full school uniform and arrive at school on time as photos will taken from 9.00am onward.

Below are the ways people can get involved and share their feedback.

1. Complete the online survey by 31 May 2024
2. Attend a pop-up stall to have a chat about the project:

• Sunday 12 May, 8.30am - 1pm

Farm Gate Market, Bathurst Street

• Thursday 16 May, 3.30pm - 6.30pm

Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre, Queens Domain

• Tuesday 21 May, 11.30am - 1.30pm

Mathers House, 108-110 Bathurst Street

1. Email your suggestions to coh@hobartcity.com.au
2. Fill out a printed copy of the survey at the City of Hobart Customer Service, 16 Elizabeth Street, Hobart.

Consultation for this project is open from 1 May 2024 until 31 May 2024. Please visit Your Say Hobart for more information.

Make each day count

By showing up to school every day, your child will have the best opportunity at a bright future. It gives them every chance to be around friends, learn new things, and find interests.

Good attendance habits can sometimes be hard to stick. Keep trying to create a solid routine, to set your child up for success for the rest of the year.

If you’re looking for tips on how to create better attendance habits, visit the Anything can happen website.

Please always talk to us if you’re having trouble getting your child to school. We’re here to help.