Term 1 Issue 2 Newsletter Date 27 February 2025

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Term 1 Issue 2 Newsletter Date 27 February 2025

From the Principal
Certificate Recipients
Home Reading at Our School
Brixhibition
Communicating Learning with Families
EPS Attendance
Children's University
Lost Property
Exeter Primary School Association Committee
Community News
Term Dates and Public Holidays 2025

Welcome Back BBQ And Open Classroom Afternoon

Thank you to everyone who attended our Welcome Back BBQ and Open Classroom afternoon. It was a great success, and a fantastic atmosphere. It was pleasing to see students engage with the parents/ carers and share aspects of their learning. We look forward to more opportunities of working alongside families to support student outcomes. I would also like to thank The School Association volunteers for their help in cooking the BBQ.

Australian Government School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) over the NBN

The Australian Government has made a commitment to deliver access to free broadband for up to 30,000 families with school-aged children who are not connected at home currently via the NBN network. SSBI is a targeted affordability measure to help boost education opportunities.

To be eligible for the SSBI, families must have at least one child studying in a Tasmanian school in grades K-12 and live at a premises with no active broadband service over the NBN network.

The NBN will install connection equipment at the premises of the student. The internet connection will be a standard unfiltered NBN internet connection, which will need moderation of use by the student by their parent or carer.

The student will need access to a device for use on the NBN service. This may be a device 'loaned' to the student from their school where available.

We would like to introduce you to Lenny. Lenny will at times accompany his handler Mr Young, Mr Young is a staff member. Lenny enjoys meeting children, and especially listening to them while receiving a pat, or playing games during time spent together.

The value of animal assisted therapy is widely accepted as an aid to improving the wellbeing of children and can lower anxiety while also boosting the ‘feel good’ hormone dopamine.

Animals are not generally allowed on school premises. Appropriate consideration and consultation was undertaken for this activity. Whilst inherent risks will remain and some people will choose not to participate, our school supports this activity occurring.

Lenny is a well behaved friend and has all the expected vaccinations and routinely visits the vet for normal check- ups.

Children, at times, will have a chance to interact with Lenny on the school grounds. Please also note children will not be allowed to feed Lenny.

If you do not want your child to interact with Lenny, please email your child’s teacher.

We will assume that no reply by the given date, allows interaction with Lenny.

If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

Certificate Recipients

P1 Lockwood	Louie, Charlotte
P2 Mahar/Hookway-Dare	Arlo, Lucy
Grade 1/2 Achilles	Myah, Jacob C
Grade 1/2 Eastley	Otis, Christopher
Grade 1/2 Hardman	Whole class
Grade 1/2 Kerrison/Poxon	William, Isobel, Alice

Merit Certificate

Thursday , 2024

Home Reading at Our School

Reading unlocks everything we do- learning, working, participating in society. Supporting your child to read at home is one of the most powerful things you can do for them. 

Commencing last year, all Tasmanian Government schools are taking steps to introduce a new way of teaching reading. This follows the latest national and international research about how our brains learn to read.

What Does the Research Say?

Children aren’t born with natural skills in reading, like they are for walking and talking. They must develop new pathways in their brain to master this skill. It is a complex process which must be taught explicitly.

Current research shows that reading can be broken down into a series of skills. One of these skills with a strong focus in the early years of school is phonics –the relationship between letters and sounds. At every stage it’s important that students master all the individual skills before moving on. This is the best way to set them up for success.

Reading at Home Prep- Grade 2

We are changing the way we teach reading and home reading is also changing for students in Prep- Grade 2 classes. The Nights of Reading Logbook for these classes has a new column for recording when the reading you do with your child each night is “Read to You” R2U or “Read to Me” R2Me. Over the week, it is important that you support your child to experience a mix of both of these.

Reading at Home Grade 3-6

Students in primary grades also continue to benefit from reading at home, practising what is being learnt in reading in the classroom, building vocabulary and comprehension (understanding the meaning of what is read). Parents continue to play an important role in home reading in these grades by showing interest in what children are reading and helping them to develop a regular reading routine.

100 Nights of Reading in 2025

Home reading start next Monday for all students. This year’s rewards are-

50 Nights = Certificate & canteen ice-block

100 nights= Certificate & $2.00 canteen voucher

150 nights= Certificate & canteen ice-block

200 nights= Certificate & $10 Book Club voucher

Please support your child to establish this important regular routine- on the couch after school, in bed at night, even in the car waiting for after-school sport or an appointment.

Happy Reading!

Brixhibition

Communicating Learning with Families

Primary Progress Report (PPR): Prep-Grade6

The PPR is a short report provided to inform parents about how their child is settling into school and to advise them of any early areas of concern. These will be sent home to families on Friday 21^st March.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten teachers will make contact with parents/carers over the next few weeks to have a conversation about how their child has settled into school. They do not receive a written PPR.

EPS Attendance

EPS Attendance

From this week we will be sharing the percentage of students attending school for that particular day in our newsletter. This is so we can celebrate high attendance and also strive to be better.

Updated Attendance process

To align with DECYP’s priority of Attendance, schools are developing a Multi Tiered System of Support (MTSS) to reduce absenteeism.

Tier 1 includes students with attendance greater than 80%.

Tier 2 are students with attendance between 70-79% and

Tier 3 have attendance levels less than 70%.

Each tier has different levels of support.

At the Tier 1 level an updated, more stringent school process for Explained and Unauthorised absences has been created. The Flowchart involves:

Teachers contacting parents/families more often via phone or email
Team Leaders making contact after 5 explained absences over a period of time. A Doctor’s Certificate or Statutory Declaration will need to be provided to Admin upon request
A formal attendance letter sent from school after 10 days of Explained or Unauthorised absence
Social Work intervention or Strong Families, Safe Kids notifications as required

If you have any questions, please contact the school.

The average daily attendance rate; Year-to-Date, derived from student attendance data recorded inEduPoint as at 27/02/2025 is 91%

Children's University