15 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Welcome to 2017

Welcome back everyone it was wonderful to see all our students returning to school so enthusiastically and settling back into the school routine ready to make the most of every learning opportunity. As I visited classes last week I was reminded of the strong learning culture that exits at Exeter Primary School, students were focussed and attentive and displayed an eagerness for learning. Thank you to our families for ensuring that our students were smartly dressed in their school uniforms, at our welcome assembly last week I don’t think I saw a single child not in uniform, which was excellent! This year we have welcomed a number of new students to our school and it was a pleasure to see them so warmly welcomed by our Exeter Primary community. I look forward to getting to know these students and their families as the term progresses.

Staff Changes

We have 2 new staff members this year, Kate Emms, K-2 AST and David Duncan who joins our Grade 3/4 team. Both Kate and David are highly experienced educators and bring with them a wealth of knowledge. Their skills and experiences will be assets to our Exeter Primary Teaching Team.

We also welcome Megan Baird, Speech and Language Pathologist, and Karen Button, Social Worker, who will be joining our support team. This team includes Jessica Walker, Psychologist and Juanita Du Vergia, Health Nurse.

We are also fortunate to have number of Pre-Service Teachers working with us this term.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the work of all our staff in the lead up to the new school year. There is much to be done to ensure that students have the best possible start to the year. This includes the preparation of our physical environment, administration requirements and book sales, classroom preparation and timetabling and programing for students. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to such a positive school start. A special thank you to Susan, Alex, Lisa, Tameika and Matthew in the Uniform Shop who were very busy during book sales day. Thank you also to our Parents and Friends committee for providing a wonderful morning tea for staff on Tuesday.

Exeter Primary School Expectations

At our welcome assembly last week I reviewed our Exeter Primary School Expectations with students. These included our commitment to Whole Body Listening, our anti-bullying slogan, ‘Be a Hero Every Day. Tell the Bullies No Way’ and our school expectations of Be Safe, Be Your Best and Care for the Rest. At Exeter Primary we are committed to the development of a Growth Mindset and this philosophy underpins all that we do. Our students understand that learning does not happen without effort and that challenges are opportunities for new learning. Having a growth mindset helps build resilience and persistence and means that we are focussed on the process of learning not just the end product.

Zones of Regulation

Last year we trialled the Zones of Regulation Program with great success and consequently this year the program will be rolled out across the school. The purpose of this program is to empower students to take control of their emotional wellbeing through the teaching of explicit strategies with which to self-regulate. This may be as simple as learning to breathe deeply and relax or it might involve a range of other more complex strategies. To support this program we have introduced The Zones Room. Students are referred to the room to participate in mindfulness sessions and get themselves back into the optimal zone for learning. We have also placed a number of Zones Chairs throughout the school to provide students with a specific space to use when they are in their Yellow Zone. We will be sharing more information about the Zones in coming weeks but please feel free to talk to your child’s teacher if you would like to know more.

Hawthorn Visit

We are very excited to have members of the Hawthorn Football Club visiting our Grade 3/4 classes this Thursday. The visit is to support student understanding of health and wellbeing and promote the Hawthorn Club’s About Me program.

School Priorities

Last Tuesday our teachers and teacher assistants spent the day working with Professor Dianne Siemon, an expert in the field of Mathematics teaching and learning. The focus of the day was to explore the teaching of number and place value. It was a valuable day with lots of new learning for us all. Mathematics and Reading Instruction are priority learning areas for Exeter Primary this year and as such teachers will be undertaking professional learning and working together to improve their instructional practice in Mathematics and Reading. Other learning foci include STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and The Arts. All students will participate in STEAM sessions throughout the year and there will be a greater focus on Visual Art, and Drama.

I am anticipating a positive and productive year ahead and as always I welcome feedback from families about our school. If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, myself or a member of our leadership team and remember a conversation had early can often prevent a problem from escalating.

I look forward to seeing you all at our Welcome Barbecue on Tuesday February 21.

Kind regards

Lift

STEVE BIDDULPH

Following our successful evening with Steve Biddulph last year on about Raising Girls, we are excited to advise Steve is returning to Exeter Primary School to present a community evening on Raising Boys! A psychologist for 25 years, he is now retired and lives locally, but continues to write and teach. Steve will be presenting his talk Raising Boys on Tuesday, 7 March at 7-30 p.m. in our Performing Arts Centre.

Come and hear about how you can raise boys with simple, practical ways that will make immediate sense. Topics include; the three stages of boyhood, keeping the special qualities of boys, the importance of dads,testosterone, what to do if you’re a single mum and boys and housework!

Steve Biddulph is one of the world's best loved parenting speakers and authors.

Please see the flyer below for details on how to book your tickets. Spaces are limited so book your tickets as soon as possible so you do not miss out on this excellent event.

Exeter Primary is looking at bringing Steve back to our school in June 2017 to present his talk on The Secret of Happy Children, so watch out for more information to come.

Respectful School

The Zones of Regulation program focuses on the following areas of learning:

• Emotional self-understanding and emotional self-regulation. Students learn to understand the connection between their sensory systems, their emotions and their ability to relate to the world in ways that make others feel comfortable relating to them.
• Sensory integration and regulation, this helps students learn to manage sensory input from the environment so they can process and respond in ways in which they are expected to function.
• Students learn about brain based skills such as impulse control, sustaining attention, planning, problem solving and self-talk as the foundation to manage their behaviours and overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of them reaching their goals.

We are hoping there will be many purposeful discussions at home regarding the work students do in their classes about The Zones of Regulation and ask you to contact your class teacher if you require any further information.

Friday 17 March 2017 is the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. At Exeter Primary our classes will be exploring their ideas and understandings about bullying and discussing what they can do about it individually and as a school community. Watch out for more information about how we will be marking this important day this year!

The website below provides parents with some excellent supports to assist their children deal with bullying and to build resilience.

We will be sharing some of these ideas with you over the next few weeks, as they support the work we are doing here at Exeter Primary School in building our Respectful School Respectful Behaviour.

Canteen

Birthdays

Happy birthday to the students of January and February. We hope your birthday was special.

Launching into Learning

What a wonderful start seeing some familiar families and meeting some new families at the first of our Launching into Learning sessions for 2017. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at a session soon.

Our Learning Community

Support Services

School Health Nurse

My name is Juanita Du Vergier, and I am happy to say that I am your primary school health nurse. As the nurse for your school community, I will be working with your child’s teacher on a variety of health promotion programs such as healthy eating, being sun smart, hygiene, puberty, resilience building, relaxation techniques, healthy relationships and mental wellbeing. Look out for my short newsletter articles on various topics that I hope you will enjoy.

During Term 2 this year, I will perform a health check on all the children in Kinder. The health check includes vision and hearing tests. I will work in partnership with parents and teachers on any developmental issues, such as toileting or behaviour concerns.

The health assessments are available to any child in primary school on request. If you have a concern with any health matter, please feel free to collect a consent form from the office or speak with your child’s teacher. I am more than happy for you to drop in and chat with me directly.

I am available every Tuesday

Juanita Du Vergier,
Primary School Health Nurse Program.

Music Programs

Esk Band Program 2017 Introduction Session

On Tuesday February 21 tutors from the Esk Band program will be visiting Exeter Primary to present an introduction to the program and showcase the different instruments that are available to learn this year. The Esk Band Program has been running for many years at Exeter Primary and has produced many fine musicians and a love of music in all those who have participated. Learning to play a musical instrument is not only an enjoyable experience, but is also responsible for a range of other positive benefits including improved memory capacity, teaching of perseverance, enhanced coordination as well as improved mathematical and reading comprehension skills. (Michael Matthews EffectiveMusicTeaching.com)

The Esk Band Program is open to all students from Grades 3 to 6 so if you or your child is interested in finding out more about this wonderful program please come along on Tuesday February 21 at 11.40 in the Performing Arts Centre to learn more. If you are not able to make this session and would like to know more please contact the school office.

Guitar Lessons

What to learn guitar, bass or ukulele? In-school lessons available.

Contact Shaun
0418440398 or silentibis@gmail.com

Piano Lessons

Private Piano tuition available at Exeter Primary School with Judy McIntosh.

$25 per lesson. Phone or text 0400 566 092.

Parents

School Photos

School photo will be taken on Wednesday March 22. Photo envelopes will be sent home Wednesday February 15. Please carefully read the instructions on the envelope when ordering.

Families wishing to order a family photo will need to collect a Family envelope from the office. They must be handed back to the office prior to photo day. Family photos will not be taken unless they have a Family envelope.

Family discount is now strictly for online orders only. A discount coupon must be printed from our website and placed inside the non-paying children’s envelope. Parents only pay for the first two children (must order Deluxe, Premium or Feature pack), the 3rd, 4th and 5th children are free! If parents are unable to access the internet or do not have a credit/debit card they will not be eligible for the family discount.

Hats for Term 1

Term 1 will see Exeter Primary getting back into wearing hats and being Sunsafe for all outside activiites. Most students have been wearing hats since the start of term and we thank them for their efforts. If a student still has not located their hat a new one can be purchased from the Uniform Shop which is open on Tuesdays from 8-30 am until 9-30 am or Thursdays from 2-30 pm until 3-30 pm. Hats cost $10-00 and are available for purchase from the school office.

Book Club Issue 1

The first issue of book club for 2017 has been sent home. If you would like to place an order, please put your child's and his or her teacher’s name on the front of an envelope, place the order sheet and money inside the envelope and bring to the school office by

Tuesday February 21

Please read flyer below as there is a new online ordering system available for all parents to use.

Banking

What’s Happening in Our Classrooms?

School Association

Uniform Shop

It was great to see so many people at the shop on during Book/Uniform Sales Days; sales were well up on last year. I would especially like to thank Alexandra Swain, Lisa Dentler, Matthew Crowden and Tamieka Greenhalf for volunteering their time during the holidays to work in the shop.

Our spray jacket order was late, but has now arrived and we have filled the outstanding orders. Thank you to everyone for their patience. We are also waiting on an order for collared windcheaters which should arrive in a couple of weeks.

We are grateful for all the parents, grandparents and carers that donated secondhand items for our $2 bins. We have had a lot more parents bringing in pre-loved uniforms for our consignment racks; please do hesitate to ask if you would like to find out more information.

If you have any questions regarding sizes or fit and options available, please come in and see us on Tuesday mornings 8.30-10am or Thursday afternoons 2.30-3.30pm, or give us a call or email on exp.pf@education.tas.gov.au

Susan O’Leary

Community News

104th Exeter Show

Just a reminder that the 104th Exeter Show is on Saturday 25th February. It will be a great family day with many attractions for everyone: Live music, tree felling, side show alley and show bags, equestrian events, cattle, sheep, stalls, vintage cars, food, coffee, fire brigade and so much more.

Get your entries in for the photographic competition, arts and crafts, cooking, flowers, and of course all the vegetables, large and small that you have been growing. If you have a Lego model that you would like to display or some art work bring it along. All entries have to be in the show hall by 7pm on Friday for judging and you can get your entry form from True Value Hardware in the main street of Exeter.

So come along, everyone can enter – mums, dads, grandparents, neighbours, friends and teachers and everyone will find something to enjoy the day.

Exeter Mini League

Hawks in Tassie

The Hawks are once again holding their annual tour of Tasmania and will be appearing at Audi Centre Launceston, King Meadows, to meet their fans! Come along between 10am – 11am on Saturday 18 February, enjoy coffee, giveaways and activities for the kids and of course meet some of the Tassie Hawks! For more info find us on facebook