The average daily attendance rate; Year-to-Date, derived from student attendance data recorded inEduPoint as at 09/04/2025 is 91%

As we end Term One on behalf of the staff, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of the school and the teaching and learning which occurs. As a school community we are fortunate to have staff that go beyond their role to support students, evident by the recent Tasmanian Schools Basketball Tournament during the past two weekends for our Grade 3-6 students. Over the course of the weekends, we have had at least a dozen staff members support teams in the capacity of coaching, umpiring, scoring and bench support. We also had past student, Neeson and his father, Mark coach a team. The tournament was an enormous success for fifty students to participate in a team environment, many students not having played before. The respect, fun and enjoyment was evident throughout all games. Congratulations to all participants.

Staff Farewell – Mrs Jo Howell

As communicated at the beginning of the week, we farewell Mrs Jo Howell from our school. Due to the declining enrolment numbers at Exeter Primary School (EPS), we find ourselves currently over-staffed and therefore are required to adjust this to meet our staffing and budget requirements for the remainder of the 2025 school year.

Jo has been a teacher at EPS for over 18 years, the past 18 months she has been part of the Leadership Team. Jo is an outstanding educator who has provided a learning environment which has been supportive, full of wonder, play, culture, curiosity, and tailored to meet the individual needs of every young person who has walked through the kindergarten gates. Jo has been a source of wisdom and information for parents and families as they too navigate the initial stages of children’s development and schooling.

We know that Jo will remain connected to the school in some capacity as a local community member. We wish her all the best in her new school environment, she will be a great asset there and a huge loss for us.

I wish everyone a restful and safe holiday period and we look forward to seeing everyone at the beginning of Term 2.

Merit Certificates Thursday 03 April, 2025

Grade 3/4 Duncan	Oliver, Ella, Saxon, Archie, Tempah, Jacinta
Grade 3/4 Zandavar	Elliot, Wyatt, Beth
Grade 4/5 DeHaan	Danica, Lilly
Grade 5/6 Petrohilos	Lochie, Chaz

Merit Certificates

Principal Awards Thursday 10 April, 2025

P1 Lockwood	Eleanor
P2 Mahar/Hookway-Dare	Raff
Grade 1/2 Achilles	Maisie
Grade 1/2 Eastley	Jake
Grade 1/2 Hardman	Eli
Grade 1/2 Kerrison/Poxon	Callum
Grade 3/4 Atkinson	Miller
Grade 3/4 Duncan	Rhiannon
Grade 3/4 Zandavar	Amelia
Grade 4/5 DeHaan	Ellie
Grade 5/6 Petrohilos	Maggie
Grade 5/6 Sundra	Erik
Grade 5/6 Wood	Autumn

Thursday , 2024

This term students from Prep to Grade 6 have been investigating living things. Each grade group has been exploring an inquiry question relevant to their developing understanding and progression of learning across our school years. Check out the questions below and a snapshot of some of the learning opportunities provided.

Prep: How can we group animals and plants by looking at them?

We have been looking at lots of plants and animals, we have been discussing their external features and how these features help them to survive. Students have crawled like crabs, squawked like seagulls, sung about the parts of plants, and grouped animals and plants. One of our favourite songs was: https://youtu.be/9bFU_wJgvBI

Grade 1/2: How do living things meet their needs in the places they live?

What is a living thing? What is a non-living thing? What was a once-living thing? These are just some of the questions we have looked at this term. Students have grouped living things, identified what is a need and what is needed to survive. They have found plants and animals as living things have basic needs that are the same; water, food, shelter to name a few. We have also considered how we can learn to care for country from our First Nations people through the Bunya Pine Tree. There is one in Launceston, do you know where it is? Mrs Fisher even had a Bunya Cone for us to look at in the school.

Grade 3-5: What are the characteristics of living and non-living things? What are the differences between animals and plants?

What makes something living and non-living? What are the differences between animals and plants? Students have been learning how to create a scientific drawing correctly and studying the life cycles of animals and plants. We even had a go at hatching Sea Monkeys, or more formally Artemia or Brine Shrimp. We have discovered that they are not really like monkeys at all and are related to crustaceans in fact. We currently have at least five sea monkeys, check out the photos and see if you can find one. We have learnt how to tell if the Brine Shrimp is male or female and we hope to have more grow throughout the year.

Grade 5/6: How do changes in physical conditions affect living things?

What is a physical change and how does this change affect the basic needs of a living thing and an animal or plant’s ability to survive harsh conditions. From migration to hibernation Grade 5/6 students have learnt about tardigrades and different harsh environmental conditions to diagnose plant health and experiment with radish seeds. We were a little disappointed with our radish seed growth with only our control seeds growing in water. We had hoped we would have more successful growth with organic water. Perhaps next time we will be more successful.

Why Teach Self-Regulation?

Regulation is something everyone continually works on whether we are aware of it or not. We all encounter trying circumstances that can test our limits. If we can recognise when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to manage our feelings and get ourselves to a healthy place. This comes more naturally for some, but for others it is a skill that needs more attention and practice. This is the goal of The Zones of Regulation.

Sorting Our Emotions Into Four Zones

Feelings are complicated. They come in different sizes, intensities, and levels of energy that are unique within our brains and bodies. To make them easier to talk about, think about, and regulate, The Zones of Regulation organises our feelings, states of alertness, and energy levels into four coloured Zones – Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. The simple, common language and visual structure of The Zones of Regulation helps make the complex skill of regulation more concrete for learners and those who support them. We learn to regulate our Zones to meet our goals and task demands, as well as support our overall well-being.

The Four Zones

The BLUE ZONE describes low states of alertness and down feelings, such as when a person feels sad, tired, sick, hurt, lonely, or bored. Our energy is low and our body is moving slowly when we are in the Blue Zone.

When in the Blue Zone we often need to rest and recharge to meet our goals. We can regulate by seeking (or co-regulate by offering) comfort, energizing, or resting. If we are feeling sick in the Blue Zone, we may need to rest. If we are feeling tired, we may need to energize (depending on the context). If we are feeling sad, we may need comfort. In all these situations, the common theme is noticing our lower energy and/or down feelings and options for managing them.

The GREEN ZONE describes a calm, alert state. We may be feeling happy, focused, content, peaceful, or calm in the Green Zone. The nervous system feels safe, organized, and connected in the Green Zone, helping us be primed to learn. However, we can learn in other Zones too.

When in the Green Zone we regulate by using tools and supports that keep us moving forward comfortably, helping us feel ready to go! In the Green Zone, we might regulate by choosing to eat a healthy snack, exercise, take a break, or pause for a mindful moment. These restorative actions help us proactively care for ourselves so we can move forward with ease.

The YELLOW ZONE describes when our energy is higher, and our internal state starts to elevate. Our emotions get a little stronger. We may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, confusion, nervousness, be overwhelmed, or have the wiggles, when in the Yellow Zone.

In the Yellow Zone we may need to take action to regulate to manage our energy and feelings as they get stronger. For example, if we are feeling energetic at the lunch table it helps to use caution and take a deep breath, so we do not spill something. If we are feeling nervous before our performance, we can slow down our racing thoughts and speech by using a mindfulness tool. When we are frustrated, and pause to take notice, we can decide to take a break to collect ourselves before we say something we regret.

The RED ZONE describes a state of extremely high energy and intense, very overwhelming feelings. We may be in an extremely heightened state of alertness, potentially triggering our fight, flight, freeze or flee protective response. We may feel elated, euphoric, anger, rage, devastated, out of control, panicked, or terrified when in the Red Zone.

When in the Red Zone we might need to pause and assess if we need to regulate and gain a sense of control of our strong feelings and high energy. For example, if we are feeling angry it may help to pause and count to 10 before we act. If we are panicked, we can stop and use our self-talk to help us gain a sense of control of our thoughts in order to meet our goal. If we are elated, such as when a teammate scores the winning point, we might need to pause and take a big breath to regulate our impulse to run out on the field to celebrate if there is still time on the clock.

Just a reminder to write your child's name on their uniform. We have a large amount of unnamed uniform in our lost property basket if you are missing anything.

To ensure our students are successful in the modern digital world, Exeter Primary school includes Digital Technology as a specialist lesson. From Prep to Grade 6, all students have a 40-minute lesson in our Super Lab each week with a specialist teacher.

This term in our specialist lesson, upper primary students have been learning about the daily responsibility of taking care of our digital equipment, how to use the read aloud function within the accessibility software, the etiquette of how to send emails to other people and have just begun to experiment with the features in a word document.

Our lower primary students have been practising how to log on and off computers. They have been using software called ‘Paint' and 'Paint 3D’. They have also been using our beebots to look at the different ways to code a robot.

The focus in Digital Technology is to build all student’s digital literacy in a fun, safe and engaging way.

Meeting tonight at 6:30pm

Brixhibition is an exciting event for students to be able to showcase their creative Lego building talent. This year we had 46 students who entered the competition.

Every student in the school had the opportunity to vote for their favourite build. The votes were tallied and the winners from each age group were:

Kinder/Prep- Lucy
Grade 1/2- Toby
Grade 3/4- Amelia
Grade 5/6 and the Overall Winner- Justus

Justus will be invited to display his creation at the Northern Brixhibition Schools Event during the holidays. If you are interested in attending the event it will be held at the Door of Hope Conference Centre in Launceston on Saturday 26^th April- Sunday 27^th April.

Well done to all students who spent time building their creations at home and bringing them into school to exhibit.