28 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome BBQ

What a great turn out we had at our Welcome Barbecue last Tuesday. I really enjoyed catching up with some of our families and meeting new the families that have joined our Exeter Primary Community. A big thank you to the willing group of parents who helped out with cooking the barbecue it was a great effort! Many thanks to our Parents and Friends Committee for organising this event and helping with the barbecue. Events such as these are important in building connections between home and school and allow parents and teachers to have a chat in a more relaxed setting and get to know each other better. When teachers and parents work together, share expectations and have an understanding of the needs of the child, the learning outcomes for that child are improved. This year all teachers are making an effort to personally contact parents during Term 1. This may be via a phone call, a conversation when you drop off, or pick up your child, or even an email conversation. The purpose of these conversations is to ensure that we are all working in the best interests of the students and parents and teachers are communicating freely. If you would like to talk with your child’s teacher please contact the school office to arrange an appointment.

Attendance

At this time of year it is important to remind our families about the importance of regular school attendance and setting good habits with your children. It is a legal requirement that children attend school on a regular basis so, unless your child is unwell or has a medical appointment they need to be at school. As parents, it is our job to establish good habits about school attendance. Research shows that children who have poor attendance during their Prep year continue to be poor attenders throughout their school life. Missing school contributes not only to poor academic success but can also reinforce social isolation. Even getting to school late can make a child feel uncomfortable and self-conscious, as they have missed out on important information about the school day. By ensuring your child has a regular sleep pattern, is not playing on electronic devices late into the night and is expected to get themselves up and ready for school every day, will help them develop good habits around school attendance. Please let us know if you are having difficulty with getting your child to school and we will try to help. Remember if your child is unwell and can not come to school please contact the school office by 9.00 on the day of absence. This can be done by phoning the school office, sending an email or via the Schoolzine app.

School Times

I have noticed that a number of children are arriving at school before 8.30 and I therefore need to remind families that children who arrive before 8.30 are not supervised. Our school hours are 8.35 a.m. until 3.05p.m. each day.

Road and Bus safety

Last week I took a call from a parent who was concerned about bus safety, especially children getting on and off busses safely. I would like to stress the importance of talking with your children about bus safety, especially about how to cross roads safety when getting on and off busses. I would also like to remind motorist to watch out for busses with their lights flashing which indicates that children are either getting on, or off the bus and you are in a 40 km/hr zone. The safety of our children is paramount so please take a moment to review bus safety strategies with them. For more information visit the website below:

Grip Leadership Year 6

This week our Grade 6 students will be attending the Grip Leadership Conference. This will launch our student leadership for 2017. The skills the students learn at the conference will help when applying for leadership positions and carrying out their leadership responsibilities this year. Grip Leadership is a wonderful opportunity and we are fortunate to be able to send all of our Grade 6 students thanks to the generous support of our Parents and Friends Committee.

Grade 6 Hobart Camp and Grade 5 Challenge Day

It is not long until the Grade 6 students head off on the annual Hobart Camp, so please remember to send back all completed permission and medical forms. Hobart Camp is the highlight of the Grade 6 year where many good memories are made. Students are involved in a number of real-life learning experiences which support the Grade 6 History curriculum as well as having the opportunity to have fun with their class mates. This year we are introducing a Grade 5 Challenge Day at Camp Clayton, which will take place while the Grade 6 students are in Hobart. The purpose of the day is for the Grade 5 students to participate in activities which support team building skills and resilience.

Facebook

As many of you would be aware Exeter Primary School has a Facebook page on which we share lots of information and photos. Liking us on Facebook is a great way for you to keep in touch with what is happing in the school and seeing your children within the school setting. We also share information about our programs and helpful links for parents. You can also access our Schoolzine newsletter via our Facebook page. We believe that having a digital presence is important, and in keeping with how people today communicate. Digital communications will be the future for our students and as a school we must keep up with this change. We also understand that some families have reasons for not wanting their children’s photos shared electronically on Facebook or via the Schoolzine newsletter. Please complete the attached form and return it to the school office if you DO NOT want photos of your child shared on our Facebook page or in our Schoolzine newsletter.

Lift

Reminder Steve Biddulph is here next Tuesday March 7.

Steve will be presenting his talk Raising Boys on Tuesday, 7 March at 7-30 p.m. in our Performing Arts Centre. Following our successful evening with Steve Biddulph on Raising Girls, we are excited to advise Steve is returning to Exeter Primary School to present a community evening on Raising Boys!

Tickets are selling fast. The cost of the tickets is $20 per person. If you are a parent of a child here at Exeter Primary or at Exeter Childcare Centre the cost will be $10 per adult. (this is subsided by our LIFT program)Respectful School

Tickets may be purchased by phoning the school office on 63944700 or by clicking on the link below.

The Zones of Regulation

Over the last couple of weeks our classes have been working to further develop their understanding of the Zones of Regulation. Our students have been learning that when you are in the:

Blue Zone – your body is running slow, such as when you are tired, sick, sad or bored.

Green Zone – like a green light, it is when you are ‘good to go.’ If you are in the Green Zone you may feel happy, calm and focused.

Yellow Zone – you need to proceed with caution and slow down! The Yellow Zone describes when you start to lose control, such as when you are frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, wriggly, excited, worried, anxious or surprised.

Red Zone – you may experience extreme emotions such as terror, uncontrolled anger, aggression or elation. When you are in the Red Zone, you are out of control and have trouble making good decisions and must STOP!

Last week the focus was for our students to develop their ability to understand a range of emotions and how their emotions relate to the four different zones. They have been identifying their own emotions and which zone they belong to. Here are some of the posters they have made in their classes.

5/6 Clark 1/2 Johns

This year we are also trialling our Zones Room. This room is open at recess and lunchtime. Students have the choice to enter themselves or they may be directed to the room by a teacher. In the Zones Room, students undertake a time of mindfulness, where they can focus on regulating their emotions, to move back into the Green Zone, before entering the playground. Over the past 3 weeks, this room has become very popular with a range of students opting to start their playtime with mindfulness and then having a much more successful time in the playground.

An important part of this program is the use of consistent language. As we work our way through the program we will share the vocabulary of the Zones of Regulation program with you, so you can talk confidently with your children. The words we have been using so far are:

Self-regulation: The ability to employ strategies to achieve the preferred state of alertness for the given situation.

The Zones: A concept used to help students learn how to self-regulate. The Zones of Regulation creates a system to categorise how the body feels and sorts emotions into four coloured zones.

Blue Zone: Used to describe a low state of alertness. The Blue Zone is used to describe when we feel sad, tired, sick, or bored.

Green Zone: Used to describe the ideal state of alertness. A person may be described as calm, happy, focused, or content when he or she is in the Green Zone. The student is in control when in the Green Zone.

Yellow Zone: Used to describe a heightened state of alertness. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, or fear when in the Yellow Zone. The student maintains some control of himself or herself in the Yellow Zone.

Red Zone: Used to describe an extremely heightened state of alertness. A person may be experiencing anger, rage, explosive behaviour, panic, extreme grief, terror, or elation when in the Red Zone and is described as being ‘out of control.’

Canteen

Look what is available.

Canteen home style Quiche which is available on Friday morning tea at the window. $1 each

Tomato salsa made in the canteen from fresh tomatoes donated by parents then added to savoury toast which is available every morning tea from the window. $1 a slice.

Launching into Learning

B4 School

Our B4School Playgroup sessions are well underway for 2017. Many Launching into Learning families come along on Monday morning from 9am – 10.30am where lots of fun and engaging learning experiences are explored.

This Wednesday will see the return of Gym Fun held in our school gym. And, this week also marks the start of our 5 week Water Fun sessions (held in our school pool) which are also being offered to our Launching into Learning families.

Our Learning Community

Parents

STEAM

What’s Happening in Our Classrooms?

Community News

Riverside Olympic Football Club - Joeys

Interested, new and returning players can register for season 2017 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 3.30 - 5.30pm.

ROFC - Joeys staff will be in attendance to answer any queries and assist with player registration where required. The club accepts registrations from any players aged from 4 to 16, boys and girls, experienced or new players, from the greater West Tamar district, from Trevallyn through to Greens Beach. For further information please see our website below:

For anyone who can’t make it to any of these days, or for general enquiries & more information, please contact the club via email at riversideolympicjuniortas@gmail.com REGISTRATIONS CLOSE 28th February 2017!

Library Book Fair

Friends of the Library, Launceston’s Annual Library Book Fair will be held on Saturday 4 March 2017, 9.00am – 1.00pm at St Ailbe’s Hall, 46 Margaret Street, Launceston

This is Launceston’s best book sale with a wide range of good quality donated secondhand books – crime, thrillers, science fiction, romance, children’s, cooking, health, travel, crafts, gardening, sports, war, DVDs, collectables and Tasmaniana – all at rock bottom prices.