23 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Hello everyone,

How lucky we were last week to have such beautiful weather for our school cross country! As always the event was carefully organised by Mr Peter Habel and our Sports Leaders did a fabulous job helping on the day. It was great to see so many families there cheering their children on and encouraging them to have a go. Congratulations to those students who will now have the opportunity to represent our school at the TPSSA Cross Country Carnival at Beaconsfield.

After School Steam Challenge

Our After School Challenge got off to a great start with students highly engaged in designing marble runs and working collaboratively in Minecraft. Mr Clark has been very impressed with the way in which these students have taken on the challenges and worked strategically to find solutions. There is a real energy in the room and the students are really excited to be taking part.

School Volunteers

Earlier this month it was Volunteer Week and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the wonderful volunteers who support Exeter Primary School every day. These volunteers may belong to formal organisations such as the Parents and Friends Committee, Uniform Shop or the School Association, or they maybe canteen helpers or parent helpers in the classroom. We also have a great many people who help out on a semi-regular basis when the need arises. Without these special people our school would not be the rich and wonderful place that it is and our students would not have access to the variety of opportunities they currently have. A special mention goes out to Donna Barker for the amazing work she did to prepare and facilitate this year’s Mother’s Day Stall. Thanks also to Susan O’Leary, Amanda McEvoy, Sarah Clark and the all the other people who donated items and supported the stall.

Able Australia Young Person’s Program

Currently we have a team of young people volunteering in our garden on a fortnightly basis as part of the Able Australia Young Person’s Program. Team leader, Jackie, is working with the team to help Mr Chesshire prepare the garden beds ready for planting and use by our classes. We would like to say a big thank you to these young people for the wonderful work they are doing.

School Association

The Exeter Primary School Association is an important part of our school community. The role of the School Association is to support and encourage a positive relationship between the school and the community through the development and sharing of the school’s core values and beliefs. The School Association provides support to the Principal in attending to the school priorities and ensuring that the parent voice is heard. At Exeter Primary School we are fortunate to enjoy a positive and productive relationship with the School Association and the input of the Association is highly valued. Being part of the School Association is a great way to contribute to the life of the school and have input into future school decisions. Nominations for positions are currently being taken and if you would like to nominate for a position or find out more about what happens, please contact Chairperson Cindy Dunn via the school office. Nominations close on June 1 2017.

Excursions

School excursions are a great way for students to take their learning beyond the classroom and participate in exciting hands on experiences. At Exeter Primary School our policy is to provide our students with at least 2 quality learning excursions each year. This term our classes will be involved in a range of school excursions. These excursion are carefully planned by our teachers to support and extend the learning that is happening in the classroom. Last week our Kinder students visited Hagley Farm and this week our Prep and Grade 1/2 classes are on excursions. The Preps will be visiting both a dairy and a pig farm followed by a walk through Notley Fern George as part of their Science and Geography work and the Grade 1/2 students will be visiting the Cataract Gorge to support their History and Geography learning.

Professional Learning

Last Wednesday afternoon our teaching and teaching assistant staff attended a late night professional learning session with literacy experts Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey. This was an excellent learning opportunity in which we learned more about the explicit teaching of vocabulary and oral language. Having the whole staff attend such a session together ensures greater collaboration among staff and aligned school literacy practices. I have already been impressed to see a number of the new practices being trialled in classrooms and students have been really engaged.

Warm clothing

Thank you to all our families who have ensured their children are suitably dressed in our winter school uniform. It is important for our children to be warm and comfortable at school. Please remember to send a raincoat along with your child so that on drizzly days students can still get outside and enjoy some physical exercise. Our uniform shop is open every Tuesday morning from 8.30 and Thursday afternoons from 2.30 until 3.30 and has a range of affordable winter uniform items for sale, including good second hand items. If you are having difficulty in providing your child with the school uniform please contact the office and ask for assistance.

Lift

Steve Biddulph supporting our families

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Thursday, 8 June, at 7-30 pm.

This will be your last opportunity to hear Steve speak in person as he is winding down for his retirement. The topic of this community talk will be The Secret of Happy Children and it will be held in our Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are $20-00 each (or $10-00 for our Exeter Primary School & Exeter Child Care families which are subsidised by our LIFT Program). Please contact our school office or the link on the flyer below to purchase your tickets.

We are pleased to advise we still have some of Steve Biddulph’s books for sale through our school office. The books we have for sale include Raising Girls, Raising Boys and Steve’s latest book 10 Things Girls Need Most and are $20-00 each.

Parent Support Ideas

We often have parents express their frustration at how busy it is getting their children ready for school and how frustrated they become each morning, often arriving at the bus stop or school yard feeling exhausted and worn out! Often a simple check list such as the one below can be enough to give children guidance in how to get themselves organised and ready for school and makes homes quieter and more settled. Feel free to use the checklist below or search the internet for similar ideas. You can even use check list like this to assist children to get ready for bed or complete their family chores.

Bed Time Stories

Canteen

Order forms are available at office or alternatively orders can be written on lunch bags.

Please note: Grade 5 Swimming and Water Safety students are able or order. Mrs Mohr will keep the potatoes warm until they return from the pool.

Launching into Learning

Our Learning Community Outdoor classroom

Wanted

Our school urgently needs some sheep manure for our outdoor garden beds. If you have some spare and would like to donate please call the school office on 63944700 or just deliver to our school. Many thanks.

Learning Support

On Tuesdays you always smell delicious aromas wafting down the corridor from the canteen. This year Mrs Mohr our canteen manager has joined our Learning Support team and is running Cooking and Life Skills programs for some of our older students.

After completing an online course addressing personal hygiene the students have been learning how to read recipes; find recipes they would like to cook; make shopping lists for the necessary ingredients and learning how to correctly measure the ingredients. The students then create their recipe and are very proud to be selling their wares through the canteen.

Another aspect of their work is working and caring for their own garden plot in our school garden. Our students have been busy weeding, planting and caring for the own produce to use in future cook adventures. So far the students have used rhubarb to produce Rhubarb Relish and potatoes to create Potato Salad. They have also cooked pumpkin soup, lemon butter, vege fritters and honey joys.

Dental Van

Library

STEAM

STEAM at Exeter Primary School

Part 2 – The Importance of STEAM for Individuals

The fields of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics are deeply intertwined in our everyday lives, covering everything from the mechanics and reasons behind daily functioning to the complexities of modern technologies. Through STEAM education individuals are given the opportunity to access a wealth of knowledge and information which contributes towards their understanding of the world they live in. However, importantly, STEAM education also creates critical thinkers through instilling a sense of intrigue in individuals. As such, STEAM education allows young minds to challenge their world, understand new concepts, make well-informed decisions and pursue new interests effectively enabling the next generation of innovators.

At Exeter Primary School, through STEAM education, we aim to equip individuals with 21st Century Learning Capabilities so that our students can successfully: collaborate with shared responsibility, engage in meaningful knowledge construction where learners see the relevance, purpose and connect new ideas to prior knowledge, use real-world innovation and problem-solving, use digital technologies to assist in innovation and skilfully communicate ideas and innovations to a wide range of audiences and reflect and improve on a constant basis.

(Content modified from STEM for Australia by 3P Learning 2015)

Sport

CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to all students on your participation and performances last week. Thank you to House Captains, teachers, officials, parents and supporters for making the day a success. Also to our groundsman Corey Chesshire for preparation of the course.

The Kinder – Grade 2’s did a tremendous job to negotiate the course with fantastic efforts from all runners. Great to see so many parents and supporters in attendance.

The Grade 3-6 Carnival saw Dalrymple once again winning the shield for the sixth year in a row with 247 Points from Batman(165) and Brady(131). Congratulations to all competitors on completing a tough course and fantastic behaviour and sportsmanship on the day.

From our Grade 3 - 6 the first 6 placegetters will represent Exeter at Beaconsfield on Tuesday 6th June starting at 11am in the T.P.S.S.A Cross Country Carnival.

The school wishes our representatives the best of luck. Parents and supporters are welcome to attend.

Peter Habel

Parents

What’s Happening in Our Classrooms?

5-6 CLARK STEAM Capabilities Video 2017

5/6 Clark have been busy helping organise the STEAM Room. These are some of the capabilities that we want our students at Exeter Primary to have so that they can be successful 21st Century Learners.

After School STEAM video Session 1 FINAL

Exeter Primary School's After School STEAM Challenge Sessions are now up and running. Here is a quick look at their challenges and what they have been up to.

School Association

Community News

West Tamar Council Community Plan Survey

What kinds of things do you think Council should be delivering to our community?

What are the challenges facing the West Tamar community and how do you think these can best be approached?

What is the community’s role in making the West Tamar the best place to live, work, visit and invest?

The West Tamar Council Community Plan is up for review in 2017 with the theme: Unearthing Potential.

This is your chance to shape the way Council delivers, supports, facilitates and upgrades community related services, events, activities and infrastructure.

We encourage all members of our community to get involved by completing a quick survey. All complete surveys go into the draw to win a $100 grocery voucher!

Thanks for your help in shaping our community!