5 September 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Welcome Spring!

How lovely to see the sun and be able to look forward to some warmer days.

What a fantastic evening we had last Thursday for our annual Bedtime Story Night for dads and kids! A big thank you to all the dads, grandads, uncles and friends who came along to spend some quality time with our children.

Extra-Curricular Activities

The last couple of weeks have been very busy and productive with many of our students involved in a range of extra-curricular activities. At last week’s assembly we were very proud to acknowledge the participation of students in this year’s Reader’s Cup, Science Talent Search, The MAT Maths Relay and the Launceston College XSTEAM Challenge. Congratulations to all those students who participated and a big thank you to the parents and families who supported their children to be involved. As well as the academic programs we also have a number of our students involved in weekly training sessions for the up-coming Country Gold Carnival. We should never underestimate the value of participation in events outside of school. Such opportunities support the development of problem solving, cooperation, social cohesiveness and help build individual confidence. Being part of a team is a great feeling and helps children build a sense of well-being and belonging.

Communication Update

Recently the Department’s public website has been updated and is now more accessible and easier to navigate. The Website is located via the link below and provides a range of useful information including school term dates and updates on the new Education Act. You may have noticed that the parent information brochures are no longer available in the front foyer of the school. These brochures have been recently updated and are now available in digital form. The brochures are presented in A4 format and are easily printed. A full list of the fact sheets is available by searching on the Department’s newly updated website or from the link below. If you have difficulty locating any information please ask for assistance at the school office.

The new Education Act 2016 commenced during the school holidays and parents may notice some changes beginning in schools during Term 3 and 4 this year.

This is the first update of the Education Act in more than 20 years and is the result of extensive consultation with educators and parents. The Act now provides schools with an up-to-date legislative framework that better supports us to provide your child with high quality teaching and learning.

The staged approach to implementation of the Act allows time for parents and schools to become familiar with the changes and to be involved in updating their school’s policies and practices.

Below are key changes from 10 July 2017 for parents to be aware of:

Attendance:

• Daily attendance: Attending school regularly is essential to learning and keeping students engaged in school. To help increase school attendance there is a new limited set of circumstances in which a student can be authorised to be absent from school.
• Part-time attendance: To make sure that approval for a student to attend school part-time is in their best interest, there is an updated process for parents or independent youths to apply to the Department of Education Secretary for part-time attendance.

Enrolment:

• Flexible enrolment: Recognising the flexible enrolment options may be required to support a student’s learning outcomes, there are increased and more flexible options including:
      - Part-time enrolment of home educated students as part of their home education program
       - Dual enrolment for students with a disability enrolling at more than one school (both a specialised support school and another school)
      - Year 13 enrolments.
• Exemption from enrolment: To make sure an exemption from enrolment is in the best interests of a student, there is an updated process for parents or independent youths to apply to the minister for Education and Training for exemption from enrolment.
• Leaving requirements: With evidence clearly demonstrating that students who stay at school have much better employment and life outcomes, students must continue to participate in education and training until they complete Year 12, attain a Certificate 111, or they turn 17 years of age (whichever occurs first). The minimum leaving age increases to 18 in 2020, which means that current students in Year 8 and earlier school years will need to participate in education and training for longer or achieve a higher qualification.

Managing behaviour to support a safe school environment:

• Requesting third-party information: To support a child’s access to education and support students who may behave in a way that leads to risk or harm to themselves or others, schools can request information about a student’s behaviour to enable the development and maintenance of strategies to better support the student. This includes requesting information from parents at enrolment and consulting the parent and child if the school intends to request information from a third party.
• Suspension: To ensure students can continue to learn, Principals must arrange and ensure that any student who is suspended is provided with appropriate educational activities during the period of suspension. Suspension will remain a last resort to be used when student’s pose a risk to themselves or others.

Compulsory Conciliation Process:

• Recognising that the reasons for non-attendance can be complex, the Office of the Education Registrar has been established to help resolve issues associated with continued non-attendance at school. Schools can refer to the Registrar to begin the new compulsory conciliation conference process. Under the process, students, parents and Principals discuss and agree what needs to happen to support the child to attend school.

School Associations:

• School Associations have automatically become incorporated under the Act with existing constitutions and administrative requirements able to apply until a new proposed constitution is adopted and approved by the Minister before the end of 2017.
• School Associations undertaking specific activities will need to apply to the Secretary before the end of 2017. This includes; employing persons, holding or dealing with property, borrowing or loaning money or entering into contracts of more than $5000. This reflects that under the Act they will have protection from legal liability.

If you would like to know more please watch out for information shared in this newsletter or visit the Department’s Website or facebook page.

2017 NAPLAN Results

Recently we received our 2017 NAPLAN Results. These results are a useful tool for monitoring our school-wide progress. Some highlights for us this year were our continued strong results in Year 5 Numeracy, Grammar and Punctuation and Reading, in which we are performing above Tasmanian schools, and in Numeracy we continue to perform above Australian schools for the second year in a row. Our Year 3 results were mixed, with Reading and Writing continuing to be a major focus area. In Year 3 Numeracy we are performing better than Tasmanian schools and we were pleased to see that in Spelling we are performing better than Tasmanian schools and have been making small, but steady improvements over the last 3 years.

Lift

Bed Time Stories

Last Thursday saw our annual Bed Time Stories event. Our Performing Arts Centre was packed full of dads, grandads, uncles, brothers, friends and even some mums all enjoying stories together. Thank you to our guest readers, Mr Habel, Mr Gorham, Mr Clancy and Mr Duncan who shared some of their favourite stories. Thanks also to the wonderful parents who helped out by making the yummy biscuits and milos to finish off the evening. We hope you enjoy our album of photos below.

Assembly Awards

Growth Mindset Award

Recipients:

Lachlan Vanden Bosch and Chloe Pevitt

Class Awards

We congratulate the following students:

Canteen

On-Line Canteen ordering – Qkr

Did you know, Exeter Primary School is getting Qkr (pronounced ‘quicker’)

From Monday 11th September, Exeter Primary School Canteen is going to be offering on-line ordering by using Qkr.

Attached below is a guide on how to download the app which is available on both, Android phones and iPhone, iPad users can download iPhone app.

At this stage we are only offering the on-line ordering for the canteen, but in the near future we hope to add the Uniform Shop.

You can order both recess and lunch items on the app. Recess items can be collected from the canteen and lunch orders will be delivered to class rooms.

I am sure you will find this app user friendly and very helpful for ordering your child’s lunch and morning tea.

HOT APPLE CRUMBLE AND ICECREAM...$2

Wednesday September 20th at recess time.

To be guaranteed delivery to class students are advised to pre-order by Friday September 15th

This can be done by writing your name and class on an envelope with correct money enclosed. Your orders can be sent to the canteen or left at the school office.

Launching into Learning

This week Launching into Learning welcomed Lucy Woodland, an experienced dance instructor, to our school to run some Dance Fun Sessions. Lucy provided our babies, toddlers and pre-school children with some easy to do movement to music that assist with co-ordination, balance and muscle strength in a fun and engaging environment.

Our Learning Community - Literacy

Book Capture

Our school has been invited to participate in an exciting initiative that links literacy, numeracy and ICT. Book Capture is a joint initiative between the University of Tasmania and the Mathematical Association of Tasmania, that encourages children to read books, share them with others and then leave them in a location for someone else to find, pick up and read. Through an interactive website, children can then track where their book travels, who reads it and what they thought of it. Further details will be provided once the website has been established, but for now we are seeking your assistance in helping us build up a bank of books that we can release into the ‘wild’. If you have any books at home, novels or picture books that are particularly suitable for children aged 8-14, that are in reasonably good condition and that you are willing to donate, then please send them along to school. The initiative will be coordinated by Grade 3-5 Student Leaders and they have placed a box in the main office for all the donated books. Thank you for your help with this. We look forward to sharing more information with you as it becomes available.

Please help us collect as many books as we can to release into the ‘wild.’ The Grade 3 to 5 Student Leadership Team will visit all classes to generate interest in the coming weeks.

Mathematics

Problem Solving at Exeter

We hope you enjoyed our segment on Problem Solving in our previous newsletter. In this edition we are looking at the Problem Solving Strategy of Creating an Organised List or Being Systematic. Here is an example Making a List.

Your Turn, here are some problem solving questions that could be solved using this strategy, why not have a go with your child. Look out for the answers in the next newsletter.

1. David, Brett, Jemma and Carmel are lining up to go to the cinema. How many different ways can they line up?
2. A group of diners go to a restaurant where there is a flat rate of $45 for lunch. One menu item for each course can be selected.
      - Entrée: Soup or green salad
      - Main Course: Fish, chicken or lamb
      - Dessert: Fruit platter or sticky date pudding
   Show all the different dinner possibilities.
3. If three darts are thrown at this dartboard, and all of them hit the board, what are the possible totals?

Answers: For Making a Table

1. Susan and Marilyn both go to the gym each week. Susan goes every three days but Marilyn goes every fourth day. If they both attend on Monday when will they next be at class together?

ANSWER:

2. Nicole is baking 100 biscuits for the school fete. She becomes bored with decorating the biscuits so she decides to vary the decoration. She tops every third biscuit with a nut, ices every fourth and places a cherry on every fifth. When she has finished all 100, how many biscuits will have all three decorations?

ANSWER:

3. Jessica is rowing along the coast to Sunshine Cove. Each day she rows less because she gets more tired. On the first day she covers 38 kilometres, on the second day 35 kilometres, on the third day 32 kilometres and on the fourth day 29 kilometres. How many days will it take her to cover the distance of 203 kilometres to Sunshine Cove.

ANSWER:

S.T.E.A.M

Jack Logan – Grade 5

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce Jack Logan, a creative and determined young innovator who has set himself the ambitious STEAM objective of not only engineering but constructing a working submarine.

The most important question however is – WHY? Asking Jack this question he explained to me that the reason for engineering and building this submarine is, ‘to study the fish and sea creatures that live and navigate the Tamar River at the moment and to see what those creatures eat, what they do in the river and how they interact with their environment’.

Jack has explained his idea to me and we have already reached out to the wider community for expert help, because I know nothing about autonomous underwater vehicles, and this is OK! In the coming months Jack will be continuing to communicate with Dr Damien Guihen, from the University of Tasmania’s School of NC Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics, as well as Dr Roberto Ojeda, Senior Lecturer (structures) from the National Centre for Maritime Engineering & Hydrodynamics, Australian Maritime College - University of Tasmania.

The video below was composed by Dr Guihen and sent through as inspiration for Jack. The AUV in the video only recently arrived from Canada and is currently in the water at Beauty Point.

I have no doubt that Jack will fail in this venture many times – and I genuinely hope that he does. As a consequence I look forward to both watching and supporting him be creative, problem-solve, innovate and communicate his passion so that it becomes a reality. Only through failure does our brain think more, problem-solve more and generate even more unthought-of solutions. We look forward to following your STEAM innovation journey, Jack.

Over the course of the first five weeks of Term 3, a group of Grade 5 and 6 students have been working extremely hard in my Digital Tech. & Art After-School STEAM Program.

With Exeter Primary School having a long and strong tradition associated with the arts, this group have research, engineered a draft and composed a piece of visual artwork. But how does that relate to STEAM? In collaboration with Launceston College’s STEAM NGN, these students will have their t-shirt design printed onto a t-shirt using their large-scale digital technology – very cool!

Let’s have a look at what they have been up to.

Engaging Parents in Computer Science and Coding

Please note, that if you do want to explore Scratch, I would strongly recommend that you create a free account. This means that you can save your projects and work on them over a period of time. If you do not have a Scratch account, any work you create potentially will be lost and not recoverable.

Finally, I would like to share some ScratchJr animations that have been created with some assistance in Grade 1/2 Johns.

Mr Clark
AST of STEAM

Did you know?

Parents

Just a reminder ‘Ditto’ will be at Exeter Primary School on Wednesday 13th September 2017. More comprehensive information was sent home last week.

A Parent Information Session will be held in the PAC foyer at 8-45 a.m for 15 minutes, should you like to find out more about this excellent program.

Parents are also invited to stay and view the program with their children, so they can discuss these issues at home.

Times of the Program:

Kindergarten and Prep - 9-15 am
Grades 1 and 2 - 10-00 am

Your Opinion Matters

Exeter Primary School administration team would like your opinion and ideas on the service that they are offering to families.

We are always looking for ways to improve our service to both parents and students to make life easier and to improve communication.

To assist us with this we invite you to participate in this survey which can be accessed by following the link below or if you would prefer you can obtain a hard copy from the school office.

Your response to this survey would be very much appreciated.

Special Data Collection Forms

Could parents please return the data forms to the office by Friday September 15.The information on the form is part of the department’s commitment to our school.

Book Club Issue 6

The sixth issue of book club for 2017 has been sent home. If you would like to place an order, please put your child's and teacher’s name on the front of an envelope, place the order sheet with money inside the envelope and bring to the school office. Last day for ordering is Friday September 8th. If any special, secret orders are required, ‘please say keep at office’ on envelope or attach a note inside.

What’s Happening in Our Classrooms?

A day in the life of Grade 5-6 Alcock

One activity all our class enjoys is Daily Phys Ed (DPE). This year we have all improved our physical stamina and running ability. This is because every day the first thing we do in DPE is run, either laps of the court area or set distances.

Some of our favourite DPE activities include:

• running
• the obstacle course where we have improved our upper body strength by pulling ourselves up on the black rubber tubes, step ups, pull ups, chin ups, sit ups and hanging on the monkey bars.
• We always stretch after DPE.

Our library lesson on Tuesday is really quiet and peaceful. Mrs. Clarke is always a great help, assisting us to find books and introducing us to new ones.

In the computer lab, we improve our coding on Tuesdays and on Fridays we use Study Ladder or Prodigy to improve our maths and reading skills.

Morning Review is a great help revising previous work we have done in the class, reminding us of number facts, hand writing skills and information about the world.

Each day for a week we read an article based on the same topic and write notes in our Book of Knowledge so that we can go back and revise what we have learned. This daily activity helps us to build our reading stamina, to build our vocabulary, to put information in our own words and to synthesise what we have read and written.

This week we have worked hard on our Assembly presentation. The whole class has participated and have learned self-control in our movement and facial expression.

Grade 5-6 is more daunting with the school work we have to cover but also more fun because we get to connect with more people through leadership roles and class activities.

by Reece and Alana

Prep Upson

Kinder Enrolment 2018

Enrolments for children who will be attending Kindergarten in 2018 are now being accepted. If you have received an enrolment form we encourage you to complete it and return it to the office as soon as possible. If your child was born any time during 2013 they are able to attend Kindergarten in 2018.

We ask that if your child does not currently attend a Pre-kinder session or you know of anyone who is of Kindergarten age, that you contact the school office on 6394 4700, as attending Pre-kinder is an important support for children entering school. Pre-kinder during Term 4 is when children attend without their parents in readiness for Kindergarten in 2018. Please contact the office for more information regarding the days and times Pre-kinder is held.

As we become more certain about our Kindergarten numbers for 2018, decisions will be made regarding class placements. Confirming Kindergarten numbers for 2018 is important in determining the class structures for 2018. Your support in completing the enrolment process swiftly will ensure class placements can be confirmed for 2018. Please remember an original birth certificate and copy of immunisation history are required on enrolment.

There will be an information session for all Kindergarten parents for 2018 and you will be advised of this date in Term 4.

If you have any questions please contact the school on 6394 4700.

School Association

Parent Direct Toy Catalogue

A reminder all orders need to be handed into the school office by Monday September 11 to avoid disappointment and guaranteed delivery.

Community News

West Tamar Little Athletics Club

First meet at Windsor Park on 7th October 2017 at 8.15am

New members welcome!

Track and Field events for U6-U15.

For more information contact:

• Paul Scott – 0409971887
• Nicky Jones – 0429900543

See attached link for Little Athletics flyer.